Blessed Nine
by BitterSweet08
Summary: The Charmed Ones have disappeared. Their children move into the Manor together swearing 2 find the evil responsible, 1 demon @ a time. Arc-2: A friend of the family gets injured by an unknown threat. The cousins must find & ID the threat b4 it's 2 late Ch.7 new chapter
1. Chapter 1

******_Disclaimer: ALL CHARACTERS FROM THE CHARMED UNIVERSE BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. NO ___****COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED**. IN OTHER WORDS I OWN N-O-T-H-I-N-G :(

******_A/N:_** **For the record this is a future fic based on the Charmed One's children but this chapter starts off with the three sisters.**

**Also I might include _some_ things, events, places, or people from the Charmed comics but that doesn't mean the comics will be considered cannon for this story. Anything that I do include would be explained.  
**

**Enjoy :)**

* * *

Piper sat in the attic's couch reminiscing through the Book of Shadows. She remembered with nostalgia how Grams had marveled over how big the book had gotten since her time when she came from the past during the fight against the ultimate power. Now, here she stood wondering if someday she too will feel that way. So far her sons had added quite a contribution to the book. All three of them. She had been blessed with three children, two boys and a precious girl, but as fate would have it she was entrusted with the care of another magical being, her third son, Angel. She made sure he always felt at home in the manor as well as with the rest of the family. She first met Angel when he was no more than a couple of months old and the next time she'd seen him he was a 10 year old boy.

It had all been an agreement done by her and his father when she casted a spell before they parted ways. He had been worried that if something were to happen to him, his son would be at the mercy of the Manticore demons. Piper, understood his concerns and offered to take over and ensure the boy's wellbeing if there was ever the need. Reluctantly Derek had agreed and only asked that she be good to his son _if_ the day ever came. They separated hoping that day would never come for the sake of the child.

Ten years later Derek was killed by the Manticores in attempt to get the boy back. Unfortunately for them his death was the trigger to Piper's spell which transported the boy over to the manor. The moment she laid eyes on the boy she knew who he was without having to ask as well as what he had been a witness to. His eyes said it all, they had been filled with fear and sorrow. At the time she wondered if he would ever be able to recover from the loss.

With time he was able to integrate himself into the family. He eventually got around calling her mom, though it was more out of habit from hearing her other children addressing her that way. When she first heard the word escape from his lips she got the same bubbly feeling in her stomach as the time when Chris, her neurotic white-lighter-son from an alternate future, called her mom.

_Chris._ She would never forget him. As the Chris from this reality grew older, she couldn't help but notice the resemblance he shared to the other Chris. Granted they were essentially the same person, it amazed her how similar and yet different they both were. He was neurotic to the core and yet he did so love finding exceptions to certain rules. He was astute and very hard to deceive. As a teen he had been a smart ass, but both Piper and Leo expected it after meeting their grown son so they had had time to prepare themselves for it. For all the planning and strategies he came up with, he still had ways to go in order to restrain his impulsiveness. He has always been in a hurry to better himself and prove himself worthy to his older brothers. Ironically, Wyatt and Angel always ended up saving him from whatever mess he managed to get himself into.

Wyatt was another case all together. Sometimes Piper felt like a horrible mother towards him. She knew she had done everything beyond humanly possible for all her children to live a normal life, but Wyatt was different. He always acted like he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, and in a way, he did. He was the Twice-blessed child, wielder of Excalibur, and the oldest of the family. Everyone looked up to him and had him in some sort of pedestal: family, friends, and most of all the entire magical community. Great things were expected from him and no matter what she did, nothing could change those expectations. Everyone would forget that he was just a twenty-one-year-old, barely legal to drink, and on his fourth year as a student at Stanford University. He was studying to be a doctor and follow in his father's footsteps and Piper wanted him to experience life with as few responsibilities as possible, a luxury in their line of work. With a heavy heart, she mustered the strength to encourage him to pursue the scholarship offered to him before the pressure became too much for him to handle. Everyone awaited the day when he would lead to greatness, to make matters worse, Wyatt would actually take everything to heart, he wanted to be the person that everyone envisioned. Most people believed he was naturally gifted at his powers, but what was power when it wasn't properly nurtured? It was nothing, but a destructible force. No, Wyatt was a powerful witch, but that was not because he was blessed with powers that others weren't. His strength came from late hours of practice harnessing his powers. He led everyone to believe he was a natural at everything because that is what they expected from him and he didn't want to disappoint anyone. It was actually funny how all three boys would train their powers secretly from the other two. One fact that could not be denied about her boys was how they would let their competitiveness, stubbornness, and male pride get the better of them. A deadly combination she would be more worried about if it wasn't for Melinda.

Her baby girl was a force to be reckoned with. She kept the whole family in line and everyone had a soft spot for her. Melinda was the youngest of her siblings but oldest from her cousins. After the boys she was the one with the most authority. Her boys loved her and wanted to keep her wrapped in a protective bubble, quite literally actually, but Melinda would have none of that. She may not have as many powers of them, she didn't posses a teleportation power, and didn't stand much of a fight in a hand on hand confrontation, but she was the best in spell casting and potion making. She studied Alchemy in Magic School and even took private lessons from Ava Nicolae, a Gypsy Shuvani. Melinda was now eighteen, newly graduated from high school and entering college in the fall. She was also legal and could now hunt demons along with her brothers as promised.

She along with Paige's twins, Pandora and Polina, and Phoebe's eldest, Prue or as she liked to call: Phoebe Jr., had looked forward to using their magic in the real world above graduating and entering the "college experience". Everyone had agreed that demon hunting and any other magical activity outside Magic School would not be permitted until they were legal. The Charmed Ones didn't want their children to fight evil, at least not until they were twenty one, but the boys made a compelling argument that if they could enlist themselves to go onto war at eighteen there was no reason for them not to fight demons in their own backyard and there wasn't much they could do when they began having charges assigned.

Her children were all grown up and yet they were still children in her eyes. They still shared petty arguments and pulled pranks on one another as they did when they were a decade younger. Some days she missed not having them around to devour whatever she dished out, but she would then remind herself she had a restaurant to run and mouths to feed. They were adult now and although it was hard for her to not think of them as kids that needed to be protected, she knew it was that much worst for her sisters. Phoebe had had all girls. Aside from Prue, she had conceived Patrician who was now sixteen and Penelope who was twelve. Paige had also had a third child, Henry Jr., who was the same age as Pat. Their children were growing up and Piper had the feeling that they would have to grow up that much faster. Leaving behind their innocence at such a tender age should be a crime, but in this family there wasn't much that could be done.

Something big was coming. This wasn't like before, there were no changes in the weather, no strange orbital patterns in the planets, no hell breaking loose in the mortal realm, everything was smooth and clear. To naïve eyes such as their children's, this would be a blessing, a sign that everything was right in the world. She knew better and was pretty sure she wasn't the only one that sensed something was off. Things never stay quiet for too long, not for as long as they've been. There wasn't any demon activity coming up in the surface. The magical community also tried to keep their distance from interaction with the physical plane. Something was going on in the Underworld, but this was no longer her or her sisters' fight. It was their children's and whatever evil was plotting against them, she knew it would try to take them out next.

There really wasn't any sound evidence to prove this to be true, it was more of a gut feeling that was developed from the years of experience. She and her sisters were as powerful as ever, but there was more than one way to get rid of an enemy and with all the planning and patience she knew this new threat had endured, she was sure it'd get creative.

That was the reason for her coming up to the attic in the first place. She didn't frequent this room much these days, but she had to make sure the room was stocked up with enough ingredients, that there were enough already made potions, and that the Book of Shadows had everything she deemed as important written in it. Anything that she might have missed would probably be something her husband, Leo, would help their children in. Piper still remembered the time when she accidentally traveled to the future and saw herself playing scrabble with an older version of Leo. Their love had surpassed so many obstacles and she was sure this would not be the exception. She would still have that match with Leo and she was still sure she would be the winner. She was placing the book back in the pedestal when she felt the calling and soon enough she was surrounded in white lights.

* * *

Phoebe was working on the last scrapbook of her very own family of five. Over the years, she accumulated many pictures of her husband and her three blessings, but she had never really gotten around organizing them until a couple of months ago. As the graduation of her eldest daughter closed in, Phoebe realized just how much time had gone by. Her little Ladybug would be attending Berkley in the fall along with her other three cousins: Melinda, Pandora, and Polina. It had surprised the Charmed Ones when they found out they were all expecting at the same time. Of course the girls were months apart but they were all from the same year and had one another to rely on. Phoebe's daughter had been the youngest, but strangely enough was the first of the four to come into her powers. She had been a menace as a toddler and as she grew older she had become the master mind behind all the mischief the girls caused.

Paige's eldest twin daughter, Pandora, would always jump at Prue's schemes and her twin Polina would follow suit even if she disagreed with what they were doing. Melinda, Piper's daughter, was the oldest and as so would be the chaperon of their little adventures. She would make sure they caused the minimal damage and when things got out of control she would call her brothers to the rescue.

Piper's sons were overprotective of all the girls. They somehow believed it was their duty to keep them from harm, and most of the time they did. Prue liked the idea of them being there for her. She had developed a serious case of a brother complex towards them and gone as far as ruining some relationships for them. None of them had been serious and the boys would let it go for the sake of not hurting her feelings. They all understood she had good intentions at heart and she strongly believed in her cupid intuition and saw it as her duty to find the perfect match for all of them.

Prue was more concern with embracing the cupid in her rather than the witch. Phoebe knew it was a way to separate herself from the so called "Charmed Glory". The truth was that her daughter was terrified that she wouldn't be able to live up to the name and so she hid behind her Cupid side. She would put a strong front when in reality she needed comfort from others the most. Her daughter possessed a big heart, but was also a free spirit. Even family ties seemed too restricting on her, as a result she wasn't very reliable towards her other two daughters.

Her second daughter, Patricia, was a jewel yet to be polished. Due to Prue's social personality Pat usually stayed in the side lines. Pat would escape being her sister's shadow by daydreaming in her own little world. She would secretly write romance stories in her laptop and only share them with Phoebe. Phoebe took pride in knowing that her middle daughter had taken a liking in what she did for a living and encouraged her to pursue a career as a novelist when she got older. She shared a special relationship with Pat, whereas Prue and she could spend hours talking about boys, with Pat, Phoebe would have deeper conversations. Sometimes it would be about her writing and other about the legacy she was born into. Prue had a better control of her powers and had chosen to embrace her Cupid side and Pat didn't want to take after her sister. She was extremely self-conscious about herself and didn't fully understand what love was. That was the meaning behind her writing, to further her knowledge of what she is. She chose the road less traveled and focused training her body instead of her powers. From an early age she took gymnastics and eventually different forms of self-defense. She didn't have an inclination to either her Wiccan or Cupid powers, and for the moment that was okay, after all, she was only sixteen. She still had time to find herself, still sometimes Phoebe wished she was more self-assured like her youngest daughter, Penelope.

Her baby was by far the most mature and independent of the three. She didn't like to bother others with her problems and often went her own way. Being the youngest of the whole family, she usually got the most pampering from everyone, and although, she did indulged herself in it, there was a part of her that always seemed to be to be far away. As a twelve year old, she was still as much of a mystery to Phoebe as the day she was born. Penny was a special child. There had been many complications during her pregnancy and the chances for her to give birth to a healthy baby were slim. One of Phoebe's fears was to lose a child before it was ever born as she had done with her first pregnancy.

_Her baby boy._ Sometimes Phoebe would think of that child and mourn for it. Despite what the Seer had revealed to her about the origin of the child, every year on the anniversary of the vanquish, Phoebe would take flowers to the mausoleum for her unborn son. There wasn't a proper place to mourn for him, but she hoped he rested in peace wherever he may be.

She arranged the last picture of her daughters, Coop, and herself in place and took a moment to remember the event. It was when they were having dinner at Piper's restaurant celebrating the girls' graduation. Everyone was laughing in the picture and she wondered when there would be another chance for a picture like this.

Time was running out and she feared she wouldn't be there for her daughters when they needed her the most. That was her biggest fear. Phoebe had grown up without her mother and upon the birth of Prue she swore to always be there for them. As expected, magic would have something else in mind for her. She had received a premonition of the Underwolrd united and her and her sisters nowhere in sight. Her daughters would be facing a threat and she knew they weren't ready for what they were about to face. The part that hurt her the most was that she knew she couldn't warn them of the threat because she herself didn't know what it was or when it would attack. They had to do this alone. There were some lessons that could only be learned through experience and this was one of them. She finished the scrapbooks hoping that at least this way they would have a way to remember her. It was a memento that would remind them that there was something worth fighting for. Coop would be there for them, her husband and love of her life would never abandon her daughters and that console her a bit. As she closed the book she felt she was being summoned and recognized the familiar white lights she was engulfed in.

* * *

Paige had faced many challenges and overcame each and everyone one of them to get where she was today, to have the family she always dreamed of, and to give Henry the children he yearned to have. It was ironic, really, how this was the hardest thing she had ever had to do. All she had to do was guide the pen with her wrist, a simple gesture like that should be no problem, but she couldn't bring herself to do so. She couldn't let go of what she had worked so hard for. She had done so much for the greater good and now it seemed like it was taking everything that was right in her life away from her.

In attempt to delay the inevitable she called for a blank piece of paper and began writing.

She had given birth to twin daughters, the first twins in the family line, and then unexpectedly she had gotten pregnant two years later with a baby boy. Both she and Henry had been excited to have the family they were both denied as children. They had both been adopted since birth and throughout the years they had been happily growing old together and raising their kids.

Her twin daughters, Pandora and Polina, were probably the ones the yearned the most for a normal life. They enjoyed the perks of having magic, but Pan dreaded the responsibilities it came with and Polly was terrified of the evils magic involved. They both had a hard time understanding the balance of nature and the necessity for the existence of evil in the world. It was a wonder how her daughters were identical on the outside, yet so different on the inside.

Pandora would always see things as either black or white and failed to recognize the shades of gray in between. She didn't understand that there was a transaction from one to the other. Pan didn't hesitate when she believed she was right, the problem was actually being right. From everyone she had been the most reluctant in accepting Piper's adoptive son, Angel. It wasn't until Angel risked his own life to save her and her sister that she began to trust him.

Polina on the other hand was more concern with how it is that evil is born. She has never believed someone is hereditary good or evil and was too gentle for a fight. Polly couldn't hurt a fly, much less a demon if her life depended on it. She was too idealistic and in this family that could get a person killed.

Both were inexperience and they both reminded Paige of herself when she first found out about her powers. She wanted to fix everyone's problems with magic, but magic was never the answer to life's real problems. That would be the hardest lesson her daughters would have to learn. This was their destiny and trying to escape it would only cause them more harm than good.

Henry Jr. was her youngest but he was more centered than her daughters. He accepted and abid by the norms they lived by. He had no problem distinguishing what was right from wrong, but her concern for him was more literal. Her baby had the most trouble controlling his powers, powers that were high voltage, to say the least. He had to learn to control those powers and she knew his cousins would help him get there. He was probably the most dedicated to the craft aside from Piper's kids.

_Piper's kids._ She would never go through with this if it weren't because she knew they were there. All of them were older than the rest and as so they were unofficially the authority figures of their generation. They were also the most experienced using magic since Piper wanted to prepare them for anything and everything. Paige knew she still carried wounds from Prue's death which was probably why to this day they weren't able to summon the older Halliwell.

The Heavens hadn't been the same in the resent months. In fact she wasn't allowed to go up there and hadn't had any contact with other Whitelighters or Elders. Once upon a time, she would have been grateful for that, but that was a young, inexperience, and immature Witchlighter. Years of battling for the greater good filled her with wisdom and she knew better than to think of this as a good thing. This had been a drastic measure, the kind that are only taken when options had ran out.

She finished the letter she was writing and fought the tears that threaten to leak. She inhaled a breath and signed her name on the last document. This was her heritage, her legacy. The one her children were born into and as so would follow, but Henry could still opt out. He had the right to do so and Paige could never be selfish enough to deny that to her husband. She was content with the years they spent together and the memories they created. She was grateful for the children she had. She wiped off the tears that escaped her eyes and forced herself to smile. Despite everything and whatever Henry decided, she would not regret anything.

With her mind made up she walked towards her bedroom to place it away until the time came. She never thought that time would be now, but as she was being transported in a swirl of lights she could only be thankful that she was given enough time to prepare that envelope and befor eit was taken with her she dropped it in the floor of her living room. Whatever she was about to face she knew that she'd be with her sisters and they weren't going down easily.

* * *

The Charmed Ones materialized in an all too familiar place. It was a place covered in darkness, brightened only by the circular platform they stood on. They had only been here once but they could never forget this place, after all, the last time they were here one of them was stripped of her powers.

They took a second to acknowledge each others' presence. "Well ladies, at least now we know what we are going up against." Paige broke the silence as she looked from one sister to the other.

"Why them though. This has nothing to-"

"Come on Phoebbs, it's really not hard to figure out. Can you think of a better way to get rid of us? I just can't believe they're trying to pull this crap on us twice. Why can't demons get original for once?" Piper asked.

"They tried, we vanquished them, remember?" Paige supplied trying to make light of the situation they were in.

"Ri-ight. Okay you floating heads either you come out or send us back because I'm getting a little old for this!" Piper yelled at the empty room. The only reply she got was the echo of her own voice.

"Piper, I don't think that is an appropriate way to summon them. Actually, I don't think you are even allowed to summon them. They are the Tribunal after all." Phoebe needlessly reminded her older sister.

"Yeah well, I'm a Charmed One, I'm fifty, and I'm not getting any younger either!" Piper yelled louder.

"You witches can never do something quietly, can you?"

The sisters looked towards the direction the voice came from. Two heads materialized and they recognized them as the two demons that formed part of the council of four.

"Why are we here?" Piper asked without preamble.

"We have an assignment for you." Came a voice from the opposite direction, the side of good.

"Wait, _you_ have a job for _us_?" Paige asked the Elder mockingly.

"I'm afraid it's more serious than that." The beard Elder answered her.

"What do you mean by that?" Phoebe questioned not bothering to hide her suspicion on their apparent request.

"He means it's not optional. You will complete this task whether you like it or not." One of the demons informed her. Phoebe didn't like this one. Ever since the last trial she got the feeling he didn't like her. That had nothing to do with her empathy and everything to do with her instincts.

"Yeah, aha, see, you...elders, demons, whatever you are, obviously didn't get the memo. We are _retired_. We don't fight demons _anymore_." Piper announced to all four heads though she had the feeling this wasn't news to them.

"Well if all goes well you won't be fighting demons." One of the Elders stated with his infinite knowledge. His face was covered with tired lines and although Piper didn't like this council in the least she could sense he wasn't happy with this situation either.

"Excuse me, what's that suppose to mean?" Phoebe continued the little Q&A they were apparently having.

"It means that you will be send to the Ancient Burial Ground as guardians of the Hollow." The bearded Elder replied.

"You are banishing us?" Paige accused, directing the question to the head that spoke to Piper.

"I don't care what you think you are doing but it's clear that some demon is manipulating you again to get rid of us, so save your explanations and send us back home." Piper ordered as the weight of the words began to down on her.

"Witch, this isn't like last time. We have come to this decision on our own." One of the demons announced.

"That's what you think but you-"

"But, nothing. You witches think you have it all figured out, don't you? Saving innocents, making the world a better place? Don't get cocky, there is a balance to everything and you all have corrupted that balance." The other demon accused.

"Corrupted? Is that what this is about? All because there aren't of your kind running around on the surface?" Piper challenged as she felt her temper rise.

"When was you last vanquish, witch?" The demon responded before looking at Paige, "And you Whitelighter, when was it that your last charge called for your help?"

Paige stayed quiet not wanting to answer his question. It was true that her charges didn't call for her anymore. In fact, the Elders had grounded all Whitelighters because there just wasn't a need for them to descend from the Heavens, at least that was the story circulating. She knew the Elders were just as worried about the shift of balance as these heads and she knew they all questioned if the offspring of the Charmed Ones would only hinder the balance more. She hadn't shared this knowledge with anyone, not even her sisters. If casting her away would secure her children, nieces, and nephews safety then she wouldn't think twice in accepting the terms.

"Bullshit!" Piper called. "We've been at this for a long time, do you really think we can't recognize something demonic when it's right in front of our faces."

"Have you come across something demonic in the past months?" One of the wise Elder heads inquired.

"No, but-"

"No? What basis could you possibly have then? Your kind has driven away all forces of evil from the physical plane. Without them to keep the balance, magic becomes corrupt. Concerns over personal gains are neglected, risks over exposure increase, and magic begins to play a part of mortal lives causing free will to seize to exist." One of the demons proclaimed.

Piper did not appreciate being treated like a child. "I am aware of that, but you mean to tell me that you don't find it in the least strange how there hasn't been any demonic activity? No demon stays quiet for too long, not like this, and you know it. What makes you think that someone didn't plan this so that you would summon us for this very reason?"

"You really believe all demons would agree on such a boycott?" The demon countered.

"It's more probable than what you are suggesting." Piper challenged.

"If you expect us to even consider your offer you better come clean about your agenda." Phoebe spoke to all four members of the council. She had been analyzing the conversation from afar and was forming her own conclusions from what was being said as well from her own knowledge. Once she was sure she had their attention she continued, "I had a vision where the Underworld is united. A new source was in power and it was nothing like before."

"That's impossible." Paige whispered in denial.

"Phoebe, why didn't you tell us this before?" Piper asked but was ignored. Phoebe was concentrating on the reactions of the council of four. By the looks of it, they weren't surprised to hear this. "I take it you knew that already."

The sisters stared back at their judge and jury. "What is going on here?" Paige demanded.

It was one of the Elders who spoke first. "We've sensed something, a new power. It alone could match the Power of Three, maybe even surpass it."

"And you are casting us away, why?" Paige continued.

"Imagine what a force like that could do if it possessed the Hollow. You've already experienced its destructive nature. As of now, the Hollow is unprotected and it cannot be allowed to fall in anyone's hands regardless of the cause. The other Elder continued.

"Last I checked, the guardians of the Hollow were a force of good and a force of evil. Why us?" Piper spoke barely recovering from the shock.

"As stated before, you three know the consequences of using that power. It will only lead to destruction, you wouldn't want those you hold dear expose to that, now would you?" One of the demons explained.

"This is still giving them what they want: us out of the picture." Piper resentfully spoke her thoughts. After all these years someone had actually managed to figure out a way to get around them.

"That may be so, but can you really afford them gaining that power?" The other demon asked knowing what her answer would be.

"How long will we be there for?" Phoebe asked resigned to their fate. If her children were at stake, there was no question about what her choice would be.

"As long as it's necessary. Either the threat is taken care of or we find a replacement. Of course given how easily the last guardians were taken care of and how powerful this being is, the first is more probable." One of the demons informed.

"So basically until our children defeat it, right?" Phoebe continued, ignoring the fact she was making a pact with the devil.

"If, they defeat it." The demons corrected.

It hadn't occur to any of the three that their children wouldn't make it out alive. A cold sweat ran through her body. No, they couldn't think that way. They knew their children better than anyone as well as what they were each capable of. Their individual powers and personalities complimented the others. Alone they would be in danger but united they would be an incredible force for good. Their kids would be able to handle this threat, they had to believe in them.

"Will we be able to say goodbye?" Paige asked despite knowing what the answer would be. She didn't want to leave her family without a word.

"An Elder has been sent to inform your family as we speak. They will disclose as much information as discussed here. You should take comfort in knowing they won't be sent blind onto battle."

"Like that will make everything better." Piper spat.

"You should realize that we are being rather accommodating towards your family. We are under no obligation to do as such. As it is, you three have friends in places that most aren't even aware of. They've all spoken on your behalves before the decision on summoning you was even made. A little gratitude is in place, wouldn't you say?" One of the demons told her. He didn't seemed pleased with the special treatment the Charmed Ones were apparently granted. Under normal circumstances Piper would take pleasure in seeing his discomfort, but not today.

"Just get this over with already." She simply stated.

"Just to be clear, I would like to remind all of you that the Ancient Burial Ground is a realm that exists in infinity, both outside of time and space. You will not grow old and you will lose track of time. The time you spend there will differentiate from time in the Physical Plane. Most of all, keep the Hollow away from anyone or anything. Your failure in doing so could cost the lives of your loved ones." An Elder reminded them.

"We understand." Paige declared defiantly. She didn't like this anymore than her sisters, but she knew as well as them that it had to be done. They had to believe their kids would find a way to get them back. It was up to them now.

"Very well." One of the heads spoke at last as the sisters began to feel themselves drift into infinity.

* * *

**A/N: Alright that's the intro. The Charmed Ones won't be making an appearance anytime soon but then again this story isn't really about them. If you haven't already I recommend you read my one-shot Savin' Angel which is about the Manticore baby, basically if your interested how he arrived to the manor. I'd love to know what you guys think so far so please don't be shy and review. Any and all are welcomed.**


	2. Chapter 2

******_Disclaimer: ALL CHARACTERS FROM THE CHARMED UNIVERSE BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. NO ___****COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED**. IN OTHER WORDS I OWN N-O-T-H-I-N-G :(

**A/N: Hope you enjoy, R&R :)**

* * *

Wyatt was glad the day was over and with it the annoying task of his internship...for today at least. He had been exited when the opportunity presented itself to him but he never expected it to be so…disappointing. He used to do more working part-time during the summers for Ava Nicolie, a Gypsy Shuvani, medical surgeon, and friend of the family. Now that was a satisfactory expenditure of time. She ran a medical clinic for people without insurance. At first it had been exclusively for gypsies, but after an incident where she saved the life of a man who happened to be CEO of a chain of casinos and had been denied medical help due to lack of identification, he had rewarded her with yearly donations to her facility. It was then that she was able to expand the clinic charging the minimal for her services. She quit her job at San Francisco Memorial and dedicated herself full time to her clinic. His mother and aunts also helped by contacting witches and mortals to help fund the clinic, among those were the Montana and Callaway families and Jason Dean, and thus the clinic turned into a family business where she and her husband were the primarily physicians and their children worked on weekends as receptionists. All faculty was in one way or another connected to magic making it a blessing for most magical creatures that were unable to go to regular hospitals. When the business first started Ava was short on hands and she instantly hired Wyatt as a medical undergraduate. Next to Ava and Joseph, her husband, Wyatt was able to learn the skills needed for his internship and more.

He wondered why he ever let go of that job. Oh yeah, for the recommendation letter from a top research medical facility. It wasn't until after two weeks he started the internship that he was informed of the sad cruel truth. He had witnessed cases where hospitals would deny services to patients that desperately needed treatment because their insurance didn't cover the cost but of course that was only a small number compared to the percentage of patience that were declined because they didn't have insurance at all. This had been a long and tired debate, one that had been going on since he could remember. Why was it that mortals complicated their lives so much? He was twenty one and in all those years the government had yet to come up with a bill that could ensure coverage for the nation. Okay he wasn't a fan of politics and he understood the concerns of free health care and the effect on privatized individuals, specifically doctors. But being in the profession meant he had to be informed and not only in the developments of medicine. Turns out there are many policies when it comes to the practice of medicine. When Wyatt first began to investigate in the matter he was abhorred by what he found out. Some of the things mortals did could rival the cruelty of demons. Well no at least they were born with a natural appeal to evil. Little to say he was disappointed and at this moment he seriously questioned if he wanted to pursue this career. Sure he wanted to help, but was this the best way to do so?

He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice a demon shimmer behind him. He didn't even sense his presence until two more materialized in front of him. He inspected the place for by-standing innocents and was grateful there were none. These demons had managed to corner him in the parking lot. Why come after him, though? It's suicide. It was a known fact in the Underworld that he was the Twice-Blessed, that alone was more than enough to keep demons far far away. Demons hadn't come directly after him since he was in high school. Usually his encounters with them were when a charge or innocent was attacked. Well he'd think about that later. Right after he dodged the athame coming at him from his left. Oh, was he ever grateful to have enhanced senses. He didn't bother orbing incase he missed something but that was just fine seeing as how he had taken a couple of crash combat courses at Magic School. He instinctively shifted his body just enough to dodge the hit and used that demon to knock another out. They were way too easy to knock down, a little too easy. He didn't have much time to ponder on that thought as two more came at him. He used the fallen athame of one of the dead demons to vanquish another as the last shimmered away. Once done he took a moment to catch his breath before he examined the athame once more. Demons don't usually carry athames, preferring to show off their powers. The fact that lower level demons came at him with this as their choice of weapons worried him. What was the meaning behind this attack? Then he noticed the engraved symbol. It was an upside down triquetra inside a pentagram, was this suppose to be a message? He didn't think twice before hiding in the shadows away from any possible camera he might have missed and orbing home to the Book of Shadows.

As he searched the book he noticed from the corner of his eyes how a shimmering blur was appearing from the left. He used his telekinesis to trap it in a crystal cage. Demons made his job so much easier when they came to the manor. Or so he thought before he recognized this particular demon. He only needed to see the silhouette of the figure to know who he was. Wyatt would identify that arrogant posture anywhere. Add that to his affinity to jeans instead of the traditional black leather and you got the one and only demon that could shimmer in the presence of any Halliwell without worrying about his safety. He shook his head realizing his brother was too busy with his phone to notice his current predicament. He crossed his arms and looked smugly towards him. "Would you look what the cat dragged in."

Angel looked up to see his best friend and older brother. "Hey bro, long time no see." It took him a moment to recognize he had been caged. "Is this how we welcome family nowadays?" He asked raising an eyebrow in his direction.

Wyatt used the index finger of his left hand to move a crystal out of formation. "So what made you leave the beaches of Santa Barbara to come all the way home?" Angel had been attending UC Santa Barbara and rarely visited in the summer. Wyatt didn't blame him. He had spend spring break with him on their first year of college. The place had a view and he wasn't referring to the beaches.

Angel pulled out an object from his back pocket. It was an athame.

"You too?" Wyatt asked suspiciously. "Does it have an upside down triquetra inside a pentagram?"

Angel stared back at him surprised. "And here I thought I was special."

As the words slipped, white and blue orbs revealed Chris. He didn't bother with formalities. "Demon attack, they used athames with-"

"An upside down triquetra enclosed in a pentagram?" Angel finished.

"How'd you know?"

Both Wyatt and Angel lifted the athames they had gained through their own vanquish.

"Wait, some demon clan came after all three of us…what about Mel?" Chris asked concerned. By the looks on his brothers' faces it appeared neither had thought of that.

"I'll go check on her." Angel volunteered but was stop when a voice came from down stairs.

"Wyatt! Help! Dad's injured. Wyatt!"

All three guys stared at each other recognizing the voice. Mel was homes and she was calling for help. None hesitate to teleport to the living room.

As they each appeared they took noticed of their surroundings, making sure a demon hadn't tagged along.

Mel helped their father lay on a couch before lookinguo at them. "What are you waiting for Wyatt? Heal him," she commanded.

Wyatt did as his sister instructed. "What happened?" He asked as a golden light hovered over Leo's body.

"Dad took me shopping for stuff for my dorm when these demons came out of nowhere and they got to dad. I was out numbered and I couldn't protect him. I wasn't looking,- I should have been but-"

"It's okay Mel. It's not your fault." Chris reassured her as he pulled her into a hug.

"Did they leave an athame with-"

Mel pulled the athame out of her boot. "This" she finished Angel's statement as she displayed the weapon from all angles.

"Okay what kind of stupid demon sends his minions after the four of us?" He rhetorically asked with a not so hidden anger.

"What makes you think it was just us?" Wyatt asked back as he finished healing his father. Everyone's body went rigid at the realization that this was an attack against the family.

The tension in the room grew heavier and just as Leo was about the break the silence more orbs appeared. "Demon attack. They carried athames." Their cousins, Pan, Polly, and Henry Jr. or as they called him HJ informed the group.

"We know. Been there done that." Angel informed back as he tossed his own souvenir from his encounter with the demonic clan to a nearby table.

"Phoebe's daughters. Someone needs to go check up on them." Leo told his children.

"Help!" The word reached them all before four bodies materialized in the living room that was beginning to look a little too cramped.

"Wyatt, heal." Prue called to her cousin. Her sisters moved aside enough to reveal their father unconscious on the floor.

"Let me guess, lower level demons that carried athames with them?" Pan asked her.

Prue looked back at her questionably. "What? No, we came home after buying take-out for dinner. When we got there we noticed mom wasn't there anymore and then dad just collapsed."

Wyatt removed his hands from his uncle after realizing his healing touch wasn't working. He stared back at his father. "Dad? Where's mom?"

Leo stared back at his son, I…" He didn't know what to say and he feared what the answer might mean, "I don't know. She was here before we left."

"I can't sense her." Chris announced, "Nor can I sense either of the aunts."

Everyone looked from one person to the other. Demons had attacked and their mothers, the powerful Charmed Ones, were nowhere to be found. If there was ever a time to panic, it would be now.

"We need to find them." Wyatt announced.

"What about dad?" Pat asked.

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him. I can't heal him. I don't know what's going on."

"I do." A man beamed into the room as a woman orbed in besides him.

"Sandra…" Leo said in recognition.

"Hello Leo. It's nice to see you again, though I would have liked it to be under different circumstances."

"What do you mean? What's going on?" Leo demanded.

"Your wife and her sisters are unharmed." She assured him.

"You didn't answer the question, lady." Angel told her defiantly. He still remembered the woman. How could he not when she hadn't age a day since the time that he met her, not to mention she and her friends had tried to get rid of him.

"Angel, this isn't the time or place." Leo told him with authority making him feel like the ten year old he once was.

He turned his eyes from the woman to his adoptive father, but what really made him calm down was the hand the held on to his. It was Melinda's, his little sister's.

The Elder continued, "The Charmed Ones have been assigned the task of Guardians of the Hollow."

"No" Leo whispered as he processed the full weight behind the words. He got on his feet and repeated more loudly "No! You can't do that to them. You don't have the power to do that," he insisted in denial.

Sandra stared back at her old friend. She knew the news were going to be hard on him and that was why she offered to be the one to deliver them. She hoped that she could make it easier on him and his family.

"You're right, we don't have the power to do that, but then again we didn't. The Tribunal did."

"The…"Leo couldn't believe what he was hearing. "The Tribunal, why? What's going on Sandra?"

"Wait, what is the Tribunal?" Chris asked.

Sandra looked over to the young man. He looked almost like she remembered him over two decades ago. He might not be the Twice blessed but she could sense his dormant power. Many Elders had resented Leo for being irresponsible and having a second child with a Charmed One when he was an Elder. Like the unspoken Elder who committed the ultimate offense, many Elders had viewed these two brothers as a threat, but now they saw them as their last hope. Not just them but all of the offspring of the Charmed Ones. "The Tribunal is a council made up of powerful Elders and Upper-level demons that monitor magic to prevent exposure.

"Magic hasn't been exposed. Why come after mom and the aunts?" He continued.

"The Hollow is the most powerful and unstable force known to magic. Its power is a danger to both sides, only when both sides joined could they contain its power. Originally a powerful representative from each side was given the responsibility to guard this power in the Ancient Burial Ground which exists in infinity, outside of space and time. No one is allowed to step into the Burial Ground. In their early years of magic, the sisters-"

"We know the stories. The Hollow can't be defeated, but what relevance does that have to this?" Chris continued growing impatient.

"The Hollow has been left unguarded and the Charmed Ones are the only ones strong enough to prevent it from being used."

"I'm not buying that. Why now?" HJ questioned. He was usually the most respectful of Elders but even he couldn't control the rage he was beginning to feel.

Sandra took a look around the room before coming to a conclusion. "There have been rumors about the Charmed Legacy being too powerful to exist. The shift of balance too great," she clarified.

"Wait, are you saying this is our fault." Melinda stepped forward towards the woman.

"No…but many of us believed it to be true, we were wrong. A power has been rising through the years but no one noticed it until it was too late. The new Source-"

Melinda shook her head, "That's not possible, there hasn't been a Source since our moms-"

"Yes, that is why most of us blinded ourselves to the possibility. This power presents a greater threat than we could have possibly imagined. It hasn't made its move yet and that has everyone in panic. We believe it doesn't have the power at the moment to attack so he is rebuilding the Underworld meanwhile he gains that power. We feared he would get desperate enough to use the Hollow therefore your mothers were placed as substitute Guardians of the Hollow until we find proper replacements or the threat is taken care of."

Everyone heard the implication, but only Prue voiced it. "You want us to defeat it."

Sandra hesitated before answering. "Demons don't easily cooperate with each other and they aren't known for their patience either. This demon has slowly taken over and gained followers. It has enough power to either gain their loyalty or forcefully submitting them to allegiance. I've mentioned before that the Tribunal is made up of both forces of good and evil; it was the demons who acknowledged this threat and informed the side of good. Many wanted to start a revolt against your family, to strip some of you of your powers but it was they who vouched on your behalf. Never in the past had evil spoken for the side of good, and yet these two demons seeked the greatest force of good for help and still they fear it's not enough to stop the new Source. The fact that demons have began to attack you proves you present a threat to them. Demons will come after you all from here on out." She was met with dead silence. "I wish I could be more of help but no one seems to know anything about this power. All I can do is remind you that you are stronger together."

"What about dad?" Prue asked in a weak voice as she tried to change the subject.

"That, I can answer." The man next to the Elder responded. "You see, as you well know your father is a Cupid. Cupids aren't like White-lighters, we don't clip our wings and become humans that easily. Our life force comes from the love we bring into the lives of people, love is what keeps us alive. When a Cupid decides to live as a mortal, they stop relying in the love from those they've guided in the past and focused on the love their significant other provides. As a result of this, when that person dies so does the Cupid. Your mother is not dead, but she is not part of this world either which forced your father in a state of coma."

"Wait, you are saying our dad is love sick?" Pat asked the man.

"Simply put yes. He won't awaken until your mother returns and presents him with a token of their love."

"Like sleeping beauty and snow white." Penny suggested.

The Cupid smiled at the child. "Something like that," he answered before returning to business mode, "but unlike them he won't survive as he is now. At the moment there is nothing that can keep his heart beating."

"What about us? The love of his family can substitute mom until she comes back." Prue suggested.

"That may be true but you all may go into battle at any given time, we can't afford you being distracted by familial ties."

"Are you suggesting we let our father die?" Prue countered defensively.

"No, of course not. In recognition of the situation we, angels" He signaled with his head towards himself and the woman, "have allowed this one exception. I can take him back to our domain with the approval of the family of course."

"Where would you be taking him?" Pat asked resigned.

"Our providence goes by different names. Its official name is Cupid's Temple, but some prefer calling it Cloud 9."

"Can we visit?" Penny asked hopeful.

"Yes, but I'm not allowed to tell you how to get there, you must figure that out on your own."

"That's not fair" Prue yelled. "You can't just-"

"I understand your concern Prudence but you three are half cupids. You powers are different from the average Cupid so even if I could make a suggestion it might not work. On top of everything I'm sure your father would rather you figure it out in your own, same as your mother. Coop used to be my mentor and I once met Phoebe when she had fist come into the Craft. I'm confident, you three can figure it out."

"When do you have to take him?" Penny asked quietly.

"Every second counts."

The three girls understood and went over to their father to say their goodbyes.

Once done the Cupid beamed their father and himself away.

The Elder looked at all of them before directing her gaze to Leo. "Leo, before leaving I have to inform you that I am authorized to offer you the position of Elder again, temporarily of course."

"No, I won't leave my family again." Leo answered without giving it a second thought. He still felt grief over his last decision and he still remembered _his_ words:

_You were there for everyone, mom, Wyatt, half the world, but you were never there for me. You didn't have the time._

He wouldn't be that man. He had sworn on Chris's birth that he would never again turn his back to his family especially not his children.

"Leo, we need all the help we can get. You know as well as I that you would be a great asset to us."

"No, Sandra." He repeated.

"Dad I think you should go." Wyatt told him.

"Maybe we could find a way to get mom and the aunts back faster." Chris added.

"We're not little kids anymore." Angel finished.

Leo couldn't believe what he was hearing. He shook his head in defiance. His sons may think they could handle it but they forgot about their sister. "I'm not leaving the four of you alone. I'm not abandoning my family." He clarified as he looked from each of his four children onto his nieces and nephew.

"You are not abandoning us. You will be assisting us to get our family back. You need to go dad."

Leo turned to his daughter, surprised by her suggestion. Her brothers, he could understand, but her? She couldn't possibly mean what she said.

"Melinda, I-"

"No dad! You need to go! You saw what happened today. I couldn't protect you. I don't want to lose you. I can't lose you too dad." She finished in tears.

For the first time in over twenty years Leo felt as defeated and powerless as he truly was. His own children had to protect him. He was a liability. That was why his sons were eager to get him to go to the Heavens. As an Elder he would be able to find out about this threat. He would have powers. He would be serving a greater purpose. He understood all that and he knew what he had to do. He pulled his daughter into a hug, which she was quick to accept. "If you need something, anything, I'm a call away. I'll be here, I promise." He told her before she pulled away and answered him. "I know that."

He then went on to hug each of his sons and saying good bye to his nieces and nephew.

Once Leo orbed away with Sandra, Wyatt pulled Mel into a hug. "You were great Mel. It's gonna be okay, I'll be here." He looked over to his brothers and they all locked eyes and gave an agreeing nod, "We'll be here," he corrected. He extended his free arm to his cousin Prue who was nearby and seemed to need just as much support as his sister. She ran towards him without waver.

Angel went over to hug Penny, sensing she was probably more devastated than Prue, but also because he needed some sort of reassurance as well.

Pat stood separated from everyone until she made eye contact with Chris. He gave her a soft smile. That was encourage enough for her to go to him. Her cousins had always been like brothers to her and her sisters, but she had never been as grateful to have them as she was now. If they weren't there...she wasn't going to think about that because despite having just lost both her parents she still had family and that was all that mattered.

"What are we going to do?" Pandora asked.

After a long discussion Angel, Wyatt, and Chris decided to move back to San Fransisco, back to the manor with Mel. It was also agreed that Prue, Pat, and Penny would move in with them since both their parents were gone and Pat and Penny were minors, besides there was safety in numbers which left Pan, Polly, and HJ in a tough position. Eventually everyone came to a conclusion and the Mathew-Mitchell children went home to meet with their father.

* * *

Henry got home later than he had expected. These days he worked as a consultant for the SFPD and they had been trying to relocate him to Los Angeles. He had told them multiple times that he wasn't interested but they wouldn't take no for an answer. He had been given all sorts of assignments and he had a strong suspicion this was some sort of test for the promotion, either way it was his job and he would make sure the job got done. As soon as he entered the house he realized something was off. For one thing everything was too quiet and his children are anything but. As he walked into the living room, he saw all three of his children sitting down on the couch. Something in his gut told him they weren't waiting to welcome him home. None of his kids would look at him straight in the eye and that only happened in really bad situations.

He sat down in the couch across from them and inspected the room once more, as if that would give him a clue about what was going on. His eyes traveled from one side of the room to the other until it hit him. Paige wasn't there. Paige would always be in on whatever mischief their kids got themselves into. They would go to her first to ease the hit. This wasn't about them, it was Paige, something happened to her.

"Is someone going to tell me what is going on or do I have to guess?" He asked his kids. The three of them eyed one another until Pandora spoke up.

"Mom-mom isn't coming back for sometime dad."

Henry wasn't sure how to take that. In the past years he found out how dangerous dealing with magic was and he had been sure he was ready for anything but now he realized he never considered the thought of hearig this.

"What does that mean?" He asked.

Pandora, Polina, and HJ explained about the Tribunal, the attacks on them and their cousins, and finally about his brothers-in-law.

"So the Elders want you guys to fight this demon? Do they realize you are just kids? There is no way you are doing this I won't agree -"

"You don't have much of a choice dad," Pandora said.

"Excuse me? I am your father and I have every right to-"

"Dad, we're not minors anymore," Polina said as she raised her eyes to look back at him."You should take the job offer in Los Angeles."

"We're moving into the manor. The three of us." Pandora announced.

"What?"

"Dad, Uncle Leo was attacked earlier and Mel couldn't protect him. Demons won't hesitate to attack you to get to us. It's best if you are away from us." Polina insisted.

"No! I'm the parent here! I'm suppose to protect you, not the other way around." Knowing he wouldn't be able to reason with his daughters who took too much after their mother, Henry looked over to his son. "HJ you're a minor still, you're staying with me."

"And let my sisters unprotected? I don't think so. We are stronger together, if we are separated we'll be easier targets. Look dad, at the moment we are the weakest of the nine. I can't control my powers and Pan and Polly freeze up during an attack." He said as he remembered the earlier fight. When the demons had shown up his sisters had been too slow to react, if it wasn't because he had taken several self defense courses, at the instruction of his cop father, they would have been goners. And those demos had only been lower level. There was no way they would stand a change if an upper level demon came after them. As they were, they were no good and would only get their father injured or worst.

How had things gotten so out of hand? This morning Henry's biggest concern was parting from his daughters as they moved into a college dorm and now he finds out his wife was MIA, his kids were in danger, and what was he suppose to do? Walk away? In all the years he had spend with Paige he had never resented being a mortal more than now. For some reason the despair of being unable to protect his kids brought back memories of when he proposed to Paige. Maybe Paige would have been better off married to that British witch. Maybe all those oracles had been right and this was why.

"Mom left a letter for you…we found it in the floor. She probably knew what would happen," Polly said as pulled out an envelope.

Henry took it and ripped the envelope open.

Henry read the letter slowly, savoring each word that his wife had thoughtfully written down for him to see. He should have felt outraged by her proposal for a divorce or at her will where she left everything to him. She had filled both out without his consent and as hurt as he was at her lack of confidence in his fidelity towards her, he couldn't find it in him to be mad at her. Amused was a more fitting word. With all the years of marriage it seemed their relationship hadn't progressed much when it came to their insecurities about the other. He had been worrying about not being the right choice for her, thinking that perhaps if he had been magical his children would have been better prepared for a magical encounter. She on the other hand worried about more mundane problems. She practically crucified herself for not being "normal". He could just imagine Paige's pouting face at his reaction towards the letter. She never liked it when he took her lightly when she was being dead serious about magic. He now realized he partly did it just to see how her pleading eyes would change from a worried expression to unadulterated rage with a glint of amusement. He loved Paige for that, every time he began having a pity party about not being helpful with magic Paige would do or say something where it seemed his career, his problems, his needs were as important as anything else. She reminded her that he wasn't completely helpless, as a cop he provided Intel that no crystal and map could.

And there was his revelation. He could help. He knew contacts and the one thing he hadn't discussed with his family was that the position offered to him was a separate sector. One that dealt with the supernatural . It had been the reason for approaching them in the first place. If he joined them then maybe he could find something that could help his kids. The wheels in his brain began turning and he could think of numerous possibilities. This would mean he would have to leave his children behind. Could he leave them alone to fend for themselves?

No, not for themselves. They had their cousins and he had seen firsthand what Piper's boys were capable of and of their overprotection for the younger family members.

But still, his daughters didn't belong in the line of fire. Chivalry aside, he knew them as well as Paige and they weren't ready. He glanced over the letter once more and noticed how ink had been smeared in a couple of places. She had been crying when she wrote the letter. Just as Paige explained in the letter, Henry knew this was part of who his children were and underneath their insecurities they had a need to protect others. He looked up from the letter and stared at each one of them with what they called his "cop stare". It was a little trick he had picked up when dealing with delinquents and kids who had taken the wrong road. Eyes really were the window to one's soul, and as he looked through his kids he could see behind the fright and see a fierce determination.

But what kind of man would he be if he left his children?

_One that cared about his family even if it meant parting from them._ Hadn't Leo made the same choice? Leave his kids to help them in the long run. Difference was, Leo could go to his children's aid a call away whereas he couldn't even tell them what he would be doing. If they knew of his motives for complying with them they would most likely try to use magic to sway him to do something else. He loved his kids, really he did, but that didn't blind him from the truth and the truth was that his children were no good when it came to spell casting or potion making. He would probably end up with a serious case of amnesia. No, he would do this alone and if and when he found something he would figure out a way to get the information to them.

"If something happens, you have to call me. And you can't go hunting demons without your cousins. Always go in a group of three, got it?" He instructed.

"Got it dad." Pan answered as her younger siblings nodded in agreement though they all knew they might not be able to keep their word.

"When will you guys be moving in?" Henry asked.

"We already orbed our thing there. Wyatt doesn't want to give demons any openings." Polly explained.

"In that case I'll make a call in the morning and I'll rent this house while we are away."

"We have to orb back to the manor. Everyone's a little shaken by what's happened today." HJ said trying to avoid the awkwardness that was building up.

"I understand, you kids should go."

They hugged their father goodbye and orbed back to their manor, back to their reality.

* * *

**A/N: As always your guys' ********thoughts and opinions are much valued. Any and all are welcomed. :-)**


	3. Chapter 3

******_Disclaimer: ALL CHARACTERS FROM THE CHARMED UNIVERSE BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. NO ___****COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED**. IN OTHER WORDS I OWN N-O-T-H-I-N-G :(

**A/N: Hope you enjoy, R&R :)  
**

* * *

The Halliwell Manor hadn't been this busy in a long time. With a household of ten, it was hard to keep track of everyone. It had been a week since they all moved into the manor and already they felt crowded. The girls had kept the three rooms upstairs, with the help of magic they managed to make the rooms big enough for them all to be comfortable, even more so than the dorms they would have stayed in. The girls were able to fit two queen size beds in their rooms and had double the closet space. The twins kept Melinda's room which had also been their mom's. Pat and Penny also kept their mother's old room that had previously belonged to their guy cousins before they moved out. Melinda roomed in with Prue, the oldest of Aunt Phoebe's. They won the biggest room on a bet against the other Halliwell girls. All of them added their individual touches to what would now be their home.

The guys on the other hand were left to room in the basement. They were able to clear everything and cramp it in the garage. They too added their individual beds but left a 12'' by 12'' space in the middle of the room where they placed a mat and casted a spell on it similar to the one in Magic School that makes the hallways infinitely long. This way they were able to train without worry. Their beds were arranged two on each side of the mat and they split the corners to give each other a sense of space. Wyatt's corner was on the left side of the entrance stair. It had a simple bookshelf filled with medical books and a plain desk with a lap-top. To the side he had as adornment a sword stuck in a stone, Excalibur. Chris's looked similar though his desk was filled with cabinets and secret compartments where he kept potions and his book shelf had political science books and a cliff notes version of the Book of Shadows. Angel arranged his space with weights, mirrors that covered an entire wall, and a punching bag. A collection of swords and athames served as ornaments on the wall next to his bed since he was skilled with almost every weapon known to man or demon and his aim was remarkable. HJ's corner was across from Wyatt's on the other side of the stairs. His corner had a desk top, speakers, headphones, amp, and two guitars, an acoustic and an electric. His corner was the messiest of all four.

Yet despite all the proper arrangements there was still one thing they could not seem to agree on, the bathrooms. There were only two, one upstairs and one downstairs. Logically it would only be fair if the girls kept the upstairs bathroom and the guys settle for downstairs one. It was a reasonable suggestion or so the guys thought. The moment they implied such a thing all hell broke loose. The girls would here none of that since, after all there were six of them and only four guys. Clearly they could not do with just one bathroom, they had said.

It was a struggle every morning to see who would use the bathroom first and for some reason the girls always managed to beat them leaving them with nothing but cold water. Today would be different, Angel was sick and tired of surrendering the downstairs bathroom to the women. He refused to settle like his brothers and HJ and shower at night. He had set his alarm fifteen minutes earlier than the time the girls got up, after all who would wake up at four forty-five in the morning to shower? Apparently he would. The time didn't matter, it was the principle behind it. He would not back down to a bunch of spoiled brats like he knew the Halliwell women were.

He shimmered into the bathroom and turned on the shower when he realized he still had an alarm set at five. Chris had always been a baby about waking up early, he remembered. He shimmered back to the room to turn it off before it woke one of his roommates. While he was at it he retrieved his toiletries as well as a pair of clothes.

It couldn't have taken him more than five minutes to return to the bathroom. He settled everything into place and shimmered out of his clothes and into the tub. It was good to have a teleportation power, it made life so much easier. And that's when he saw it, her. Was he still sleeping? He had to be. There was no way that she would be in the same shower as him. He should be waking up anytime now like he always did whenever he recognized who he was dreaming about. But it wasn't happening now? The answer came when she opened her eyes and let out a loud yell. Angel realized this was real and he most definitely was not dreaming.

Mel had been feeling guilty over using the downstairs bathroom and leaving the guys with cold water so she had decided to wake up early and take a quick shower before her brothers woke up. It would be a form of truce in the little cold war they'd been having. She never expected Angel to shimmer - naked nonetheless - into the shower with her.

"Mel, are you okay? What happened?"

Melinda turned towards the outside of the tub where both Wyatt and Chris had orbed into the bathroom after hearing her scream. It didn't take long for them to notice how their little sister was barely covered with the end of the bathroom curtain.

"Get out!" She yelled at them and attempted to toss the bar of soap towards them. Her brothers, being the smart witch-lighters that they were had the good sense of orbing out right before the bar of soap stroked them.

Angel had been frozen in place through the whole exchange not knowing what to do. Just as he was about to shimmer away Mel held on to his arm holding him in place.

"Oh no you don't." She said with a tight restrain. "First you're going to tell me why you shimmered in on me." She demanded as she hugged the curtain tighter onto herself.

"I was here first. I only went downstairs for a minute and then I came back. Didn't you notice the shower was on? That should have given you a clue that it was occupied." He retorted.

True. She had noticed the shower on but it was too early in the morning and she wasn't thinking straight. She didn't even bother to question why it was on, all she knew was that she needed a shower. "The door wasn't locked," she answered. It was a lame excuse but that was all she got. "You know what? Just leave." She released him from her hold pointingly avoiding looking at him.

She heard him get out of the tub and dressing himself but her eyes were glued onto the tiled wall. She knew the moment when he finally shimmered out of the room and exhaled a relieved sigh.

* * *

By the time Mel came out of her shower, the morning chaos had already started. Everyone was running around in the kitchen. HJ was trying his hand at making eggs as a meal. Aside from herself he was one of the three Halliwells that took a liking to cooking, the other being Penny. He would make enough for everyone, she knew. Penny was setting the table even though chances were no one would be eating together since everyone had their own schedule and agenda. Wyatt was making toast knowing very well that the kitchen was Melinda's domain and it'd be best if he stayed away. It wasn't that he was bad in the kitchen, it just had never been his forte and she and their mom would always scold him for not taking proper care of the kitchen utensils. So he had burned a couple of pots in the past, big deal, Wyatt always said.

The twins had settled for a light meal of cereal which they were eating at a corner counter. Chris, Prue and Pat were having a fight over the Coffee pot. Coffee, she could use a cup of that. Her focus was entirely on the coffee pot that she hadn't realized she had been spotted.

"Mel what were you screaming about? You woke the whole house." Wyatt announced bring her into everyone's attention. Very few Halliwells were morning people, little to say they weren't especially happy to be up so early.

"I though I saw a roach, that's all."

"You know better than to yell in this house unless it's an emergency." Chris told her as he handed her a cup of coffee. She appreciated the gesture since this was his way of apologizing to her for intruding on her privacy.

"Sorry," she murmured taking a sip from the cup. She welcomed the hot burn the coffee provided. "And what have we said about you guys orbing into rooms? Hello, invasion of privacy." She was glad she had managed to gain back her bravado, coffee always hit the spot.

"Well next time don't yell." Chris answered with a smile as he lightly slapped the back of her head and walked away. Apparently he too was glad she was acting like her usual self. Normally she would be furious at them for walking in on her but she was more concerned with Angel who was nowhere to be seen. She couldn't get the memory of what she had seen out of her head, and oh, she had gotten a pretty good look at him. She wondered if he had as well.

"So, did you get the bug?" HJ asked her as he handed her a plate of scrambled eggs. Aside from Pat and Penny she was the only other girls that had a decent breakfast. The rest complained about the calories. She took the plate from him as her thoughts returned to Angel once more. This time she smiled at the thought, bringing a forkful of eggs to her lips. "Nope it flew out the window. Next time I'll get it for catching me off guard."

"Eww, Mel we're eating here." The twins said in unison.

Just then Angel walked in through the back door.

"And where have you been?" Wyatt asked casually. Melinda knew there was no way either of her brothers knew Angel had also been in the bathroom because everything had happened too fast for them to notice anything but her. She knew that and yet her heart still accelerated at the question.

"I was out jogging." He answered nonchalantly. How could he act as if nothing had happened? Mel wondered.

"You missed the morning show." Pan informed him.

"Yeah? What happened?" He asked as he scooped the coffee pot away from Prue.

"Mel woke everyone because a bug she saw in the bathroom." HJ informed him.

Angel shot a glance in her direction and smirked. "A bug?" He said with an almost laugh.

"Angel, your hair is wet." Prue directed back his attention to her when she reached for a strand of his hair.

Angel pulled away from her touch. "Someone on the block had their sprinklers on." He answered. Once more Mel wondered how he could act so indifferent towards what had happened. Didn't it matter to him? Even Chris and Wyatt had been flustered over the incident. She could tell by how they avoided staring at her for too long. They were embarrassed to have walked in on her like that but Angel didn't show the slightest discomfort over what had happened minutes ago.

It attempt to stop thinking about things she shouldn't Mel returned her attention to the conversations around her. Wyatt and Chris had moved the conversation to a different direction. They were discussing giving up their respective apartments. She felt a pang of guilt in her chest because she knew how hard they had worked for what they had and now they were giving it all up for their family and what was worst was that she was actually glad they were coming home. She'd missed them so much since they had gone away to college. Wyatt always had had class or volunteer work at the hospital. Chris was always at the USC campus either in class, studying, or tutoring. And Angel, well he practically made every excuse on the book to stay away from home. She only got to see them on holidays and even then it was only for a few hours before they orbed away somewhere. Despite the circumstances she was happy to be together again.

"I've already contacted the dean of the university so I'm just waiting for his approval to transfer."

"Wait, transfer? As in, you're going to school here too?" Prue intervened Wyatt's conversation.

"Well yeah. It would arouse too much suspicion if people begin to notice that I don't have a place back at Stanford. Not to mention here. We're not just watching out for demons we have to watch humans as well. The last thing we need is a modern day witch trial. We do this by the book." He explained. He grew up knowing the story of his Aunt Prue and her tragic death. Sometimes he had nightmares of losing a family member out of carelessness and that scared him more than anything.

"You too Chris?" Pandora asked.

Chris nodded his head, "Yeah, but before I contact USC about my transfer I was going to check out Berkley and their requirements." He then turned to Wyatt. "You coming?"

"Might as well get that settled, who knows maybe Ava will even give me a recommendation letter and if I'm lucky I'll get my job back." He hoped that Ava, the gypsy doctor, would help him out. When he was in high school Ava offered to vouch for him at Berkley both as an alumni and a friend of the school's dean. "Angel, you should come too?"

Angel, who was busying himself with breakfast turned to face the brothers. "Yeah guys…about that. We need to talk." He emphasized the last word and knew the rest of the family would get the hint and scram. They all pretended to have something to do and left the room.

"I guess this means no breakfast?" HJ asked but before someone answered, his sisters dragged him out of the room against his protests.

Once the coast was clear Angel turned to his brothers who shared the same pose of arms crossed.

"Sooo…here's the thing. I'm kind of…not enrolled at UCSB anymore."

"What?" Chris asked. "What do you mean you're not enrolled anymore?"

"I was kind of…kicked out." He confessed with a shrug.

"Kicked out? Why? What did you do?" Chris asked accusingly. He could hardly believe the words coming out of Angel's mouth.

"That's not really important. I've been going to a community college but the process will probably be longer so I won't be able to attend the fall quarter. I just wanted to let you guys know." He noticed Chris was shaking his head disapprovingly. Knowing Chris he was trying to restrain his anger at him. Chris had always been good in school and every chance he got he showed off his perfect 4.0 GPA. Wyatt on the other hand had been quiet the whole time and Angel was afraid to look at him. Rather he was afraid what he would see in him. Disappointment for not making it like they both had, or maybe betrayal for not telling him, or if he was really lucky he'd get both. He thought sarcastically.

"Well that's that. I'll go take a shower." He stated before shimmering away.

Once gone, Chris turned to Wyatt."You're just going to let him go?" Chris yelled at him pointing in the direction Angel had been a second ago.

"What do you want me to do? He's a grown man. He knows what he's doing." Wyatt replied with a shrug.

"And you don't care why he was kicked out or why he didn't tell us when it happened?"

"Chris just let him be, okay? We both know Angel has too much pride to ask for help when he needs it. Besides, knowing him he's been beating himself up for it this whole time. He'll tell us when it feels right for him."

"I'm not that patient. I'm going to figure this out." Chris declared and orbed out before Wyatt had a chance to stop him. Great just what he needed, Wyatt thought, family drama. Had both his brothers forgotten there was a demon to catch?

* * *

"Remind me again why we are under house arrest?" Prue complained to her cousin as she laid on Aunt Pearl's couch of the attic reading a magazine.

"We are not under house arrest, the guys are just being over protective…as always, but that's why we love them, right?" Melinda said, more to herself than to Prue from the podium where the Book of Shadows was located. When her brothers left to attend their business they specifically instructed them not to leave the house. Of course they weren't bound to listen to them by any magical means but as the oldest everyone felt obliged to obey. Not to mention that Wyatt and Chris being half white-lighters practically had a build in GPS on them and they weren't above using their white-lighter powers to sense the locations of them if they felt it necessary. Mel had forgotten how much she hated this part of having her brothers around. Their over protectiveness smothered her more than her own parents.

"Of course you'd say something like that, they're your brothers." Prue responded. "Speaking of which, did you know about the whole Angel deal?"

"Prue you weren't suppose to ease drop." Melinda scolded. She wasn't particularly happy that her cousin had trailed behind the rest to later informed them all of her brothers' conversation.

"Oh come on, you are talking to a psychic here. I would have found out one way or another. At least this way I feel like I wasn't intruding, you know?"

"First of all, that _was_ an intrusion of privacy. And second of all, just because you are a telepath and empathy doesn't make you -"

Prue casted her knowing look.

"Fine you're psychic, but a psychic witch." Mel hated how Prue would always undermine her own powers and abilities.

"Thank you but that doesn't sound any better. You have no idea what a burden it is to know what other people are thinking and feeling. Sometimes ignorance really is a bliss." Prue said. Since a small age Prue had been able to know people's true colors. She knew about the hypocrisy of the world and felt discuss toward it. Over the years she had learn to turn a blind eye to it all. Her only way of coping with it was to pretend it didn't exist.

A silence dragged on and she noticed Mel was staring back at her wordlessly. "I wish I had kickass powers like yours." She said trying to change the subject.

"Yes, because accidentally freezing someone moving them across town and then getting a premonition of their exact location is so much fun." Melinda said sarcastically.  
"That never happened, and besides when was the last time you lost control of your powers? Of all the luck in the world what are the chances that you'd get all three of the Charmed powers."

Yes, what were the chances? Mel often wondered that herself. Her first power was of premonition and the earliest memory she had of using it was when she was three and a demon attacked the manor. At first her premonitions scared her but eventually she became grateful since it helped save innocents, even if she wasn't the one doing the saving. Her second power was telekinesis and it appeared when she was thirteen along with her first menstrual cycle. Her brothers had walked in when she and her mom were having the talk about what was happening to her and her embarrassment sent them all three flying across the room .Her last power manifested itself on the party after graduation not long ago. One of her friends had hosted it and her date had been acting in appropriate towards her. Her fear drove her to freeze the guy and she had proceeded to knocking him unconscious with a lamp. No one aside from Prue who had also been present at the party knew about her power. She had been afraid of telling her mom since she would use her lack of control over this new power as an excuse for her to not move out. It had also been due to her stubbornness of not using her powers a week ago for the sake of her father not realizing she could freeze, that he had been injured. She knew she had to let her brothers know but now was not the right time. Not with the recent news about Angel.

"I don't have full control over my last power, so it could happen. Besides you can get premonitions too so who knows maybe you'll also get new powers."

"I can only get premonitions through my dreams and I can't call to them like you can. And of course since I'm half cupid and we're supposed to be all about love I doubt I'll be getting any active powers." Just as Melinda had gotten her telekinetic powers at thirteen Prue had received her first dream premonition of her monthly friend would start her visits. They weren't always coherent and more often than not she felt like she was in Alice in Wonderland during her dream premonitions.

"Beaming to any place you want seems pretty active to me."

"Don't tell me you're still mad about the whole teleportation thing."

Melinda restrained herself from answering her. Yes, she was still mad about that. She was the only one o f the ten that couldn't teleport herself somewhere. Growing up she found it unfair how Wyatt and Chris could orb with their half-white-lighter powers yet she only had Wiccan powers, of course her father was no longer White-lighter when she was conceived. Worst yet, all her cousins had some sort of teleporting power. Aunt Phoebe's daughters could beam. Then there were Aunt Paige's kids who were only a quarter Whitelighter and could also orb. She was older than all of them and it was humiliating for her that she couldn't teleport like the rest. Even Angel could shimmer with his half- demonic genes. Half breeds, sometimes she wished her family would just stick to mortals, why complicate things more than what they already were? In the mist of her frustration she closed the Book of Shadows. "Damn it. I can't find anything in this book."

"Mel don't bother. The book tells us about demons that have been around for years not newly discovered threats." Prue reasoned.

"Well what do you suggest we do?" Melinda seemed to be the only one trying and figure out who was behind their attack. The crest on the athames they left behind was too conspicuous for it to not be in the Book of Shadows. She tried everything, even searching online but there was nothing. The closest thing she could find was a crest of three woven crescents with their points facing the outside, but that was a cousin symbol of the tiquetra and a sign of good. She was beginning to think it was all a diversion from something bigger.

"I suggest we go to Magic School." Prue answered.

"No, _you_ want to go to Magic School because you want to see if that hottie intern is still there, and that is not going to happen. Besides I'm beginning to think this is a dead end."

"Why do you say that?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because I know my brothers and there is no way they would have sit still for a week. Not to mention that they are looking into a permanent stay here if they are really transferring. Honestly, I wouldn't put it past them to have to have paid a couple of visits to the Underworld without us knowing."

"So, why have you been wasting your time with the book?"

"Because, I need something to do," Melinda answered stubbornly.

Prue was about to make a comment on what most girls would do to keep themselves busy but was interrupted by the door bell. "Demon?" she asked.

"Yes because most bother to ring the door bell," Melinda answered sarcastically.

* * *

Pandora was busing herself doing her nails in the living room when the door rang. She carefully placed the nail polish down and headed for the double doors. She figured it was a door-to-door salesman trying to sell her some housewife product and for a moment she considered not answering.

She should have ignored the doorbell, she realized when she looked at the man standing outside the manor. He was an inch or so taller than her 5'6 figure. His hair was neatly trimmed, making him even more handsome in the suit he was wearing. His eyes were the same coffee color she remembered them being except they didn't have their usual charm. They looked worried and on a closer inspection he looked tired. He pulled her into a hug, preventing her from further analyzing him in the process.

"Thank god you're alright," he whispered desperately into her ear. "I've been worried sick about you," he said in a clear British accent. It seemed forever since Pandora last heard his voice and its effect didn't falter. Even after what seemed to be a betrayal to her, her heart seemed to skip a beat.

Pandora allowed herself to take comfort in his embrace for a moment. This whole week had been overwhelming -to say the least- for everyone to the point where they hardly took a moment to dwell over their loss. Being with her family helped her deal, the mere presence on the Halliwell men gave her a sense of security but it wasn't the same. She missed _this_ so much - she missed _him_ - and seeing him being there for her like he had always been, that's what really made her feel that everything would be alright. She pulled away when she heard foot step closing in on them.

"Johnny," Prue called from the stairs. She rushed down and pulled him into a hug. Johnny Marks was a friend of the family. His father, Simon Marks, was an acquaintance of the Charmed Ones as well as a once-upon-a-time suitor of Paige Mathews. Johnny and his brother were the only other witch-lighters the girls knew that were their age. They attended many of the same courses as some of the Halliwells in Magic School and befriended the four older Halliwell girls.

Everyone seemed to gather in the living room after hearing Prue's outburst. They were getting reacquainted with their friend when Pandora spoke up. "What are you doing here John?"

Everyone turned to the doorway where Pandora stood. Pandora and Johnny had been in an on-and-off relationship all through high school when they took extra lessons at Magic School. They finally broke it off on the day of high school graduation when Johnny didn't attend because he had decided to study the arts of Magic. Johnny loved being a witch-lighter and wanted nothing more than to embrace his Wiccan powers as well as his inner white-lighter. Pandora on the other hand wanted to go to college, get a degree, and live a normal life as much as possible. They were headed opposite directions and although Johnny suggested they'd stayed friends Pandora had refused.

Johnny let go of Prue. "I came because I heard about the Charmed Ones," he said.

"They're not dead." Pandora retorted defensively. She had to fight the attraction she seem to still have towards him, especially if the only reason for him to come back was because he felt pity for her.

"My apologies, I never meant to imply such a thing," Johnny explained. He then turned to look at the other Halliwells. "I'm truly sorry about what happened."

"We'll get them back." Melinda assured him. Melinda had always understood Johnny's need to protect and she had disagreed with Pandora's decision of giving him the ultimatum the most.

Johnny nodded. "That's not the only reason why I came though." He looked around as if searching some something. "And the others?" He asked referring to the older Halliwells. "Everyone should be here for what I have to say."

"Whatever you have to say you can say it to us." Pandora told him not wanting to give him much information. She wanted Johnny to state his business and leave as soon as possible.

"As you wish," Johnny replied without looking at her. "I don't know if you all are aware of this but there have been several attacks towards white-lighters. The first four were thought to be victims of dark-lighters. It was an alarming matter but the Elders had more pressing issues to worry about as you well know. The fifth victim though wasn't a white-lighter, it was a cupid." He gave them a moment to process the information.

"Wait, how do you know it was the same thing?" Prue asked.

"All victims had bite marks on them and are drained out of their magic. It's like a cobra's bite. The Elders don't know for sure but that's not all there is to it. The cupid was able to call for help but the healing didn't work. Whatever type of poison this is, not only is it immune to the Angel's Touch but it infects the healer." Johnny was met by deafening silence. "When I heard about it I automatically thought of you guys. Whatever this thing is, I think it's coming after you."

"The Elders aren't letting any white-lighters decent and I don't think they'll allow your dad to come either." He said to Melinda. "Not how things are. They can't afford to lose him."

"And why didn't you let us know earlier?" Pandora demanded. One thing was them breaking up another thing all together was this. They could have already been attacked without warning.

"I tried calling but you wouldn't pick up and I didn't know how to contact anyone else."

Pandora wasn't surprised since she had blocked his number from her cell phone. "You could have orbed," she accused.

Johnny shook his head. "No, I couldn't. It is believed that whatever is hunting Angels is doing it tracing them when they teleport. It's not safe to orb, beam or even make a teleportation potion."

"Still bitching about not teleporting?" Prue murmored to Mel.

Mel's response was an elbow to Prue's stomach.

"Why not a teleportation potion?" Melinda asked. She on occasion made a batch in case of emergencies.

"It got a witch after she had used one. The poison didn't kill her but it did drain her of her magic."

"How many?" Melinda asked.

"That have been identified? Nine white-lighters, one cupid, and one witch.

"I need to call my brothers and let them know they need to come back." Melinda announced as she headed for the kitchen to make the call.

Johnny looked around the room trying to pick a less dreadful topic of conversation but nothing seemed to come to mind. Penelope, the youngest was clinging on to her older sister Patricia and Prudence had pulled HJ away with some excuse leaving him alone with the twins. Polly tried to distance herself from them to allow him to talk to Pandora. In name of her kind gesture Johnny opened his mouth to say something, anything, but Pandora beat him to it. "I'll go check the Book of Shadows," she said.

Johnny followed her with his eyes until she was out of sight. "Give her time." Johnny looked over his shoulder towards Polina who gave him a sad smile.

"A lot of things have been going on lately. She'll come around." She assured him.

Johnny nodded underhandedly. "First her mom and now this…"

"It's not just that." Polina hesitated on her next words. She wanted her sister to be happy but she didn't want to betray her either. "Our dad kind of bailed on us." She finally said. "Well we don't know for sure. I mean, maybe something really came up and-"

"Slow down Polly. What happened?"

"After the thing with mom and the aunts we all decided it'd be best if we lived under one roof. That night we explained everything to dad and he just accepted it. The next morning Pan and I went to see how he was doing and the whole place was cleared out. We tried to call but it wouldn't go through. We tried scrying and still got noting. We began to worry and then we got an email saying he was alright. There was no 'see you soon' no nothing. Pan thinks dad couldn't take it and just bailed. She feels like everyone she loves is abandoning her, you know?"

"She thinks I will do the same."

Polly shook her head. "She thinks you already did. Why didn't you show for our graduation? She waited for you."

"One of my charges needed me. He was going through a rough time and then with the different time zones…I just…I wish I could have been there. I wanted to."

Polly nodded towards the stairs. "Maybe you should tell _her_ that."

"Yeah, I guess I should…thanks," he said pulling her into a hug. Johnny liked Polly like a sister. Whenever he and Pandora had a fight she would coach him on how to fix things as well as translate Pandora's actions into words. He often wondered how Pandora and Polina shared the same carrot colored hair, the same honey colored eyes, even their voices were hard to distinguish and yet he never once confused them or the feelings he had for each. He could stare at the same face and radically have a change of heart according to the owner.

"Anytime bro," Polly replied jokingly. She stepped away from him and gave him and encouraging push.

"How'd it go?" Prue asked Polly after Johnny left.

Polly waved back her hair in mock arrogance. "You know I'm beginning to think I could give you cupids a run for your money. This stuff is a piece of cake."

* * *

Johnny entered the attic of the Halliwell Manor not bothering with mannerism. He waited for Pandora to make the first move. He didn't care if she yelled at him or even if she used her powers against him, he just wanted to see some sort of reaction from her.

"Pan-Pan," he called. He had the satisfaction of seeing her hand falter from changing the page. With renewed courage he continued, "Can we talk?"

She didn't bother to look away from the book. "Isn't that what you're doing?"

"I wanted to be there-"

"If you wanted to be there you would have." Pandora interrupted.

"One of my charges needed me, I-"

"Of course they did." She said sarcastically.

"What is that suppose to mean?"

She closed the book and looked up at him defiantly. "It means _John_ that there's always a charge, an innocent, _something_ that ends up being more important than me. You don't care about me at all. All you care about is the stupid family lineage. The only reason why you even bother with me is because I'm a Halliwell and a witch-lighter like you.

"Is that what you think?" Johnny walked towards her carefully trying harder than ever to contain his fury. Having white-lighter blood in him made him a pacifist by nature and never had he felt as angry as he did now.

"Isn't it?" Pandora challenged.

That was as far as he could go. In a one swift move, Johnny was holding her by the waist. He heard her gasp in surprise but couldn't bring himself to give a bloody dime for it. "I just spent over ten hours on a bloody plane just to see if you were okay and that's not good enough for you? Doesn't that count for something?"

Pandora knew very well that Johnny hated mundane transportation just as she knew by the look on his face that he hadn't bother to rest from the flight. She shouldn't care about either she reminded herself. Instead she desperately tried to get out of his hold but her attempts were futile. "Me? Don't you mean the Halliwells? I'm not the only witch-lighter in the family. You could easily go after Polina, we even share the same face. That is if you haven't already."

"Polly? You can't be serious." That was absurd. The most ridiculous thing Pandora could have possibly come up with.

"Oh, it's Polly now." Johnny had a strict policy of calling everyone by their given name. He never used nicknames on anyone. He would say it was disrespectful especially to call a lady by anything other than their true name. It had taken her forever to have him call her by anything other than Pandora and even then he refused to can her 'Pan' as everyone else did. Now all of a sudden he had no problem calling her sister by the name the family addressed her by.

"I can't believe this. You are such a spoiled brat." He accused. Yes, he did refer to Polina as Polly but that was because he practically considered her family. He would also address Henry Junior by HJ. A little fact that Pandora had coincidently dismissed.

"So what if I am? Did you finally see the error of your ways and realized she was your better choice."

"Where is all of this coming from?"Johnny asked confused by the direction the conversation had taken.

"I saw you," she said. "Now let-go-of-me."

Johnny released her. "I don't know what you mean."

"I saw you. After I told you to choose you propose to _my_ sister, _my_ twin."

"What? No, you have it all wrong. Pan-Pan I-"

"Don't call me that! Let me through."

Johnny blocked her path to the exit of the attic. He had to clear this up. "Listen to me. I didn't-"

Pandora refused to listen to his excuses. Without a second thought she began to orb out of the room.

"Pandora! Don't orb!" Johnny called desperately.

Pandora realized her mistake and materialized herself back in the room but it was already too late.

Red and black orbs formed in the middle of the room. They backed away allowing the figure to take form. It took the shape of a human but it's eyes were pitch black. Not just its irises but the sclera as well and it had weird shaped tattoos all over its body. It didn't take long for them to reach the same conclusion: this was the thing that was killing Angels.

The mutant dark-lighter made a move towards them but Melinda had reached the attic and threw him to the opposite end of the room with a wave of her hand. Prue was right behind her.

"Prue, Pan, Johnny, get out of here. You're all half-angels, if this thing gets to you, you are good as dead."

"We can't leave you here alone Mel," Prue protested as she hid behind Melinda.

"I'm not leaving this battle. You three get out of here. Your lives are far more important than mine." Johnny replied.

He made a move against the dark-lighter after it quickly made a recovery from the attack. He was trying to distract it while the girls made a run for it. However, he had miscalculated the dark-lighter's tactic skills. With super speed it got up and targeted Pandora who had become frozen with fear.

"Pan-Pan! Get out of there!" Johnny called when he noticed the dark-lighter's intent. She didn't respond but Johnny was fast enough to orb her away from the dark-lighter view and into his arms. With a shift of his eyes he aimed to throw the dark-lighter out of the window but the dark-lighter was faster than him and orbed its way to Johnny. It tossed Johnny to the doorway. Johnny quickly orbed all girls downstairs with the rest of the family leaving only him and the dark-light in the attic. He tried to get up but his right leg couldn't sustain him. His next thought was to orb himself out of the place and that was when he felt the ache on his neck, the fangs that clawed themselves into his skin. It only lasted seconds before it became numb and he didn't feel a thing and then the pressure of the bite was gone replaced by excruciating pain.

* * *

**A/N: As always your guys' ********thoughts and opinions are much valued. Any and all are welcomed. :-)**  



	4. Chapter 4

**_Disclaimer: ALL CHARACTERS FROM THE CHARMED UNIVERSE BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. NO ___****COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED**. IN OTHER WORDS I OWN N-O-T-H-I-N-G :(

**__****A/N: Chapter's longer than usual. Hope you enjoy it.  
**

* * *

Melinda rushed back to the attic when she heard Johnny's scream. She had forbidden anyone from following her upstairs given that they were all half-angels. When she reached the entrance her eyes immediately trailed to the figure of the unidentified threat kneed down. The mutant dark-lighter had its back towards her and was feeding on Johnny. Melinda aimlessly looked around trying to find something she could use. Her eyes finally landed in the glass cabinet that stored already made potions that her mother always insisted on having on hand for emergencies. _Thank you mom_, she thought. Without hesitation she telekinetically opened the cabinet doors and threw a few potion bottles at the creature to distract it from feasting. It let go of Johnny as it let out a screeching sound that could rival a Banshee's cry. It then turned to glare at Melinda before orbing away. Melinda relaxed her frame but her victory was short lived. Another cry soon reached her ears but this time it came from Johnny. She walked slowly towards him, not sure what to do. When she finally reached his face down form she dropped to her knees.

She turned him over and placed his head on her lap. "Johnny," she whispered. To her relief she heard him let out a whimper in attempt to restrain himself from crying out in pain again.

"Everything's going to be alright now. The thing left already. You're going to be okay." She assured him.

"You know Melinda..." He said between breaths. "You've always been a terrible liar."

"We'll get you help," she said more to her benefit than his. Melinda wiped away the tears that began to leak on to her cheeks. "Johnny we can go to Ava's clinic, it's not far from here." Johnny and many other students at Magic School were familiar with Ava since she on occasion gave seminars at campus. At this rate Ava was Johnny's best chance of survival, if not the only.

Melinda got up and tried to lift him as well but her attempt was futile. He was too heavy for her. "Johnny, you need to get up," she implored. "Help me help you." Melinda feared for the worst when she noticed he was breathing heavily and seemed to be running a fever. She tried to remain level headed. She had to hold it together for the sake of everyone, at least until her brothers showed up. She couldn't afford the panic that began to creep inside of her. "Johnny, Pan needs you. You can't leave her. Do it for Pandora, she's been through enough to see you go without a fight," she begged. If there was one thing that would make Johnny respond, it would be the thought of Pandora.

Johnny made an effort to get up. They both struggled to make it down the stairs. After the first set Melinda could make out her cousins at the foot of the bottom step. When they recognize she and Jonny were the ones coming down they made an effort to help them, but before they reached a step up the stairs Melinda stopped them.

"Don't come near us! Get away!" She ordered. "You guys can't be near him. He's been infected and it could be contagious. I'm taking him to Ava's. You guys can follow when my brothers come back with a car. No teleporting," she instructed. She was thankful her brothers had brought their own cars back otherwise she wouldn't be able to drive her mother's minivan that was occationally used for caterring. She casted a last glance towards Pandora who stood the farthest from the rest. She stood by the door frame of the living room staring intensely at Johnny. Melinda could only imagine how she must be feeling. By the looks of it she had a pretty good guess that Pandora was still in shock, probably more so than before after hearing Johnny's condition. A rasp sound drew her attention back to Johnny. She had to get him to Ava's ASAP. With a last glance at everyone she made her way to the front door and somehow managed to get him inside her mom's Honda. It wasn't until she was a safe distance from the manor that her hands began to shake on the wheel. She wished her brothers were there. They would know what to do.

* * *

Wyatt was walking in one of the parking lots of Berkeley heading towards his car when Chris appeared next to him.

"Damn it, Chris!" He scolded. "You can't just orb out of nowhere."

Chris looked around the parking lot searching for any one that might have seen him. Nope, no one was around, though he wasn't surprised having had sensed the floor of the parking before hand and the only presence he had identified was Wyatt. "That's not important," Chris said dismissively. "I know why he was kicked out." He announced.

"Good for you." Wyatt responded uninterested. "Is that why you ditched coming to check the out your transfer?" He asked in attempt to change the conversation.

"You're not interested about what I found out?" Chris asked in disbelief. Wyatt could sometimes be so carefree. He bet his brother wouldn't be acting that way if he knew what Chris had found out not long ago.

"One of us needs to respect Angel's privacy. So no, I'm not interested." Wyatt had always had to play peacemaker between his two brothers. Angel had always been stubborn and he didn't like to give explanations about what he did or didn't do much less why he would do the things he did. Angel liked to keep people at arm's length to protect them from whatever mess he could potentially drag them into. Chris on the other hand had a habit of prying into other's lives. It was annoying at times especially when his interest was directed at him but that was just because Chris was over protective. At times it seemed their roles would switch and he was the oldest brother not the other way around. Either way he had always had to play the mediator between the two.

"I'm telling you, you need to talk to him about it."

"Chris…" He began in a tired voice before something caught his attention. "Hey that's my car!" Wyatt called to a stranger who was forcing his key onto his Volkswagen.

The stranger turned around. He looked at the brothers and then back to the car. "Sorry man," he apologized as he lifted his hands in surrender. "I'm not sure where I parked my car and this one looks a lot like it." He explained.

Wyatt nodded accepting his explanation. The visitors' parking lot was a structural parking building and the lighting wasn't very good.

"I'm Nick, by the way," the stranger offered stretching his hand out in greeting.

"Wyatt," Wyatt responded shaking hands with the other man. He looked down and noticed transfer papers on Nick's free hand.

"Are you transferring in or out?" He asked.

"Huh-oh," Nick looked down at his hand recognizing the papers. "In, it was a last minute thing. I'm lucky they let me in for fall quarter." Nick informed the brothers.

"Us too," Wyatt nodded his head towards Chris. "This is my brother Chris."

"Hey man." Nick said as he stretched his hand towards him.

Chris ignored his hand, choosing instead to greet him with a nod. Just then he felt the vibration of his phone in his pants. He reached for his phone remembering he had had two missed calls from the manor. He had ignored them previously because he was too busy following Angel's trail and if the girls really needed him they knew all they had to do was call on him instead of calling his phone.

He stepped away from Wyatt and Nick to take the call.

"About time one of you answered. You have to come home now but do not orb. You can't orb, if Wyatt is with you make sure you tell him the same thing."

"Whoa, Prue calm down," Chris urged. "What's going on?"

"Johnny came to warn us about this thing that has killed white-lighters, a cupid, and drained a witch of their magic. He told us not to teleport because that's how it tracks its target. He and Pandora talked and Pandora tried to orb and then the thing got here and it infected Johnny and now Melinda is taking Johnny to Ava's and -."

"What? Is it a dark-" Chris stopped himself remembering there was a mortal present. He tried to think of a quick excuse. "A dark…um…a dark…sss-pi-der?" He finished unsure of what he said.

"Huh? A dark what? Never mind, just get here fast and whatever you do, do not orb." Prue said before hanging up.

Chris went over to Wyatt who was still conversing with Nick. "Wyatt, we need to go home now."

"What's going on?" Wyatt asked. He recognized the look in Chris's eyes and it spelled trouble.

Chris looked at the mortal and then his brother, "Family emergency. The girls are calling a code red," He said. He glanced back at Nick hoping he'd get the hint.

"Hey, don't mind me. Good luck with your family emergency." He told them before walking away.

The brothers didn't hesitate getting inside the car. "The girls were attack by something that has killed white-lighters, a cupid, and drained a witch's magic. They said it tracked them when Pandora orbed when she was talking to Johnny Marks. The thing infected Johnny and Mel is driving him to Ava's. I have no idea what Prue meant 'infected' but she says we can't orb." He clarified before Wyatt asked.

Wyatt exited the parking lot and accelerated as he held the wheel with more force than he intended. "Call Angel. Tell him to get his ass back to the manor," he ordered.

Chris dialed Angel's number but the call wouldn't go through. "Give me your phone. I don't think he'll answer from mine."

Wyatt handed his phone over to Chris. On the first ring Angel answered. "What's up Wy?"

"Wrong brother." Despite the situation Chris took pleasure in Angel's prolonged pause.

"What do you want Chris?" Angel asked with a tired voice.

"Where are you?"

"What do you want?" he repeated.

"You need to get home now. The manor was attacked. Don't...shim-mer." Chris said to the dead dial. "Why is it that Angel never listens?"

"What can I say, it runs in the family."

Chris scoffed humorously.

* * *

Angel shimmered into the living room causing a round of gasps. "What happened? Is everyone okay?"

After the initial shock Prue and Polly explained the situation to Angel as best as they could. They were all surprised that his shimmering didn't alert the Underworld creature that attacked them previously. Angel had his own theory about that but before he could confirm it he had to talk to Melinda who, he found out, was the one to drive the creature away. He tried calling her phone but she had left it behind in the kitchen counter. He muttered a curse before returning to meet everyone in the living room. He searched his pockets and unhooked a key from his key chain. "All right, I have a spare key to Chris's car if you guys want to go. I don't want any of you in the same room as him until we find out how this…virus is spread." He tossed the key to Polly. "You drive," he ordered. Pandora and Prue were in no condition to drive and the others didn't have a license yet.

"Tell Melinda to come back right away. I need to know how she got rid of that thing. Penny, you're staying here." He told the youngest Halliwell. She was too young to be exposed to whatever would be of the witch-lighter. This was something he had warned Wyatt and Chris about. Their cousins had always been too sheltered from anything remotely evil. With just one look at them he could see how frightened they were when he had shimmered and then he witnessed how that transformed into relieved when they realized it was him. He didn't mind but it was about time that they looked out for themselves. "I'll check the Book of Shadows and when Wyatt and Chris get here we'll figure something out." Everyone gave him a nod of agreement.

* * *

It took thirty minutes for the Halliwells to reach Ava's clinic. During the trip no one so much as opened their mouth to speak, the radio had even been turned off, and if anyone knew anything about Halliwells it was that they were all music addicts. There was an overload of events that had shook them all to think about something as mundane as music. The tension in the car was almost suffocating, everyone feared for the worst.

Polly was sure everyone had gotten to the same conclusion as her: Johnny wasn't going to make it. She hoped that he would, perhaps his human genes would perform some sort of miracle and help him recuperate but that was a long stretch. If anything it would only prolong the inevitable. It was only a matter of how long Johnny would last. She had to be ready for the worst. How else would she be able to support her sister and help her get through this? She knew no matter how much Johnny's condition hurt her and the rest of the family, it didn't compare to Pandora's.

This was her fault. She was Pandora's twin, she should have known she needed space, that to work things on her own, that she wasn't ready to talk to Johnny yet. She should have been the one to go upstairs and lend her sister an ear. What had she done instead? She had sent Johnny right when Pandora was at her most vulnerable state. Having already lost both their parents to magical circumstances it only made sense that her sister would react defensive and try to shield herself from any further pain. Polly should have known, normally she would have, but lately she and Pan hadn't been in sync, not the way they used to. Ever since Johnny hadn't showed up at their grad Pan had been distant. Polly had let it go. She had never really been in love before (crushes yes, love no) so she didn't understand what Pan had been going through. Now that distance would only grow. If she hadn't sent Johnny, then Pandora wouldn't have felt cornered, she wouldn't have orbed, and Johnny would have never been injured. It was all her fault. She dropped everyone off at the clinic entrance before she went in search for parking. The clinic had a lot of drop-in visitors and the parking space provided was never sufficient for the amount of patients. She would most likely than not have to drive two or three blocks away to find parking. She also realized that in the mist of everything no one bothered calling Johnny's family. Johnny's parents and brother all lived in London. She didn't know how she could tell them Johnny's condition but someone had to do it. With a resigned sigh she reached for her phone and dialed the Marks number.

* * *

At the clinic HJ was the first to locate Irina, Ava's youngest daughter, who was working as receptionists for the patients.

"Rin, where's Johnny? Can we see him?"

Under normal circumstances Irina would complain about HJ's nickname. The boy and his entire family had a thing for shorting their names but she didn't like that. She liked her name, in fact she was proud of it and much preferred being called by it. This wasn't a social gathering though, Melinda had filled her in and she knew this wasn't the time for that.

"Mom's taking care of him. You guys can't see him. She said you guys weren't to be in the same room as him until she had a better understanding of the poison and its effects. She's working in the SF, I trust you know your way there." The SF was short for Supernatural Floor. The clinic operated in a unconventional way. Non-magical patients were looked after on the surface floor, anything related to magic was on a separate sector. This of course being the SF was located underground. HJ knew this already but having him ask only served to show her just how shook he was if he couldn't even remember that.

HJ nodded as thanks before going over to his sister and cousins. He felt like an idiot for wasting time when it was obvious where Ava had placed Johnny.

"Umm, HJ?" Irina called back.

"Hmn?" he answered with a tilt of his head.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your friend. Mom's really trying her best to help him." Irina had grown up with the Halliwell family as had her older sister, Isabel. The Halliwells were practically extended family to the Nicoli girls. She for one was closest to HJ and Pat since they were the same age. She cared about them all and although she was not close to their friend she didn't want them to lose someone they cared about especially because she knew he was Pandora's boyfriend.

"I know." HJ assured offering a soft smile and walked over to his family. As much as he cared about Johnny, he was even more concerned with Pandora. She had been silent this whole time, almost as if she had numbed herself to her surroundings. Pan was known to be the Drama Princess of the family, falling short only to Prue, the Drama Queen of the family. He feared she would completely shut down from the rest of the world. He hated this, he should be with his cousins trying to find a cure or brewing a potion to vanquish the mutant dark-lighter but he couldn't find it in himself to walk away from Pandora. She already felt abandoned by their father.

Oh yeah, he knew about the e-mail and his disappearing from the face of the Earth but he also knew his father didn't have the power to do that on his own which meant he was dealing with more than just the PD. He also knew that his father had always been self-conscious about his non-magical origins and HJ knew how it felt to not have the magical abilities to be of use against some Underworld creature. His powers had been out of control since he remembered and the Charmed Ones had binded his powers to some extent. He could access basic powers including his basic Wiccan powers of spell casting, potion making, and scrying but as well as most of his white-lighter powers. The only active power he had access to was telekinetic orbing and that usually ended in a disaster. His sisters didn't understand how it felt to stand back and let them handle the battling. It was enough to hurt any man's pride. That's why HJ understood that whatever his father was doing was a result of his incapability to use magic. HJ firmly believed his father hadn't abandoned them. Hell, even Victor, his cousins maternal grandfather, turned out to be a thoughtful father and grandfather. He was a living breathing example of how a father didn't abandon his family even if that's what all evidence pointed to.

After informing the girls of Johnny's location they all headed for the hidden elevator in Ava's office. Minutes later they found Melinda waiting in a hallway bench staring into a glass window of the room.

"Mel how is he?" Prue asked gently. It was more for the benefit of the rest than her own really. There was a reason why she hated hospitals after all. Being an empath made it almost impossible for her to be around sick people. She was too attuned to others suffering, at the moment she could feel the pain coursing through Johnny. It wasn't to the degree that Johnny was hurting but she could feel the pain. Of course that was only because she had come to her power from an early age and had been able to block the people around her for the most part. Thankfully Pat, for some reason, hadn't completely developed her senses when it came to empathy so she wasn't as attuned to people's pain as much as she was. Prue turned to Pat to double check that she couldn't feel it as well. Satisfied she turned back to Mel.

"He…Ava can't identify the properties of the poison and she refuses my help. She's scared I'll be affected as well."

Prue suddenly felt the pain diminished. She had been successful in numbing it for the most part but there had been a lingering annoyance of the pain Johnny felt. Now that it seemed to be gone she figured the pained had either caused him to faint or Ava had done something to ease it.

Just then Ava came out of Johnny's room. She took off the face mask you normally see doctors wearing when they operate on a patient.

Ava looked the Halliwell teenagers. There was no easy way to tell them that their friend wouldn't make it. By the boy's symptoms she gave him no more than fifteen hours to live. There was however something she found unusual in his blood samples but she didn't know if that was a result of the poison or if it was a side effect of being a white-lighter.

Piper and her sisters had never allowed her to run test of any of them or their children. She understood their reasons after hearing of their encounter with an ambitious doctor that once gained possession of their powers. It was nothing personal on their part but a means of protection. She'd have done the same in their position.

That only left a lot of holes that needed to be filled to have an accurate diagnosis. "Has anyone informed his parents?" She asked the group.

"I just did. They're in London and will get here in the first flight available." Polly informed the doctor. Everyone looked at her with surprised by her appearence, Pandora even looked a little hurt. Polly guessed she was thinking of the pain the family must be enduring.

"They gave their consent for you to do what you deem necessary." _To save him._ She couldn't bring herself to say that. Her conversation with Johnny's father was still fresh in her memory. The desperation in his voice cut through her heart.

"That's not the problem. I don't have blood samples to compare the reaction the poison is causing. I've never run tests on whitch-lighters. The best I can do is compare it to a human patient and see what happens from there." Using blood samples without the patient's consent was unorthodox, and went against everything a doctor should stand for, but it could be the only thing that could help the witch-lighter. She would have used her own blood but being a gypsy herself would only contaminate the investigation.

"You could use one of us. We're witch-lighters too." Polly offered. She'd give any amount of blood to help undo the mess she created. She owned it to Johnny and Pan.

Ava looked hesitant at the girl. "I don't think your mom would approve of that." Ava's statement caused everyone in the hallway to flinch. "Come to think of it, why didn't any of the Charmed Ones bring the boy instead?"

Melinda took charge of the conversation from there. She explained about the Tribunal, their dad's, everyone moving into the manner, and finally the attacks that led Johnny to their house. She couldn't believe she forgot to mention the attacks when she brought Johnny earlier. All she had had time to explain was why Wyatt couldn't heal him.

Ava became thoughtful for a second. "You said the witch was drained of her magic?" She asked for verification.

"Yes." Melinda confirmed. She got a vague sense of where Ava was getting at. Now a million possibilities crossed her mind. There might be a way to save Johnny except that there was a time limit. Johnny didn't have much time and she didn't need to be a doctor to know that.

"Okay, that helps a little. I'm going to need blood samples from all of you, especially you HJ since you are male. The rest will be used to compare and better understand the effects of the poison. I, will also use my own blood samples and same for Irina." Ava couldn't allow her daughter to become a target to some creature, in the back of her mind she made a mental note to call her other daughter Isabel later that day. "Johnny is still the primary concern but we cannot ignore the fact that this could be a bigger threat than we imagined. If you guys could somehow locate the witch and get her to come or sent medical record that may be of help as well."

"I'll get to it as soon as you get my blood samples." Melinda offered.

"Which reminds me, Mel, Angel is at home with Penny and he wants you to go back to the manor. He wants to know how you got rid of that thing." Prue informed her cousin.

"Okay." She answered back before going with Ava to the lab she had a couples doors down. Times like these she was thankful Ava had state of the art equipment.

* * *

Melinda got back to the house an hour after her cousins showed up at Ava's. Ava was trying everything she could to help better Johnny's condition and make an antidote. Mel was glad she didn't have to stay at the clinic anymore because that only made her feel useless. She needed to be proactive and do something to help Johnny. She could scry for the witch that lost her power or figure out the potions that spilled on the dark-lighter. She climbed the stairs to the attic lost in thought, she never saw her assault coming. Melinda was ambushed into a hug.

"You're okay," Angel breathed out. He couldn't help the rush of pride he felt when he was informed that Mel had taken care of things while they were gone. Just as he couldn't help feeling helpless after hearing what happened in his absence. What were he, Wyatt, and Chris thinking by leaving everyone unprotected?

Melinda was caught off guard by Angel's behavior. It had been years since he acted this affectionate towards her. For some reason that only made it all the more real that she could have died today. That a comrade, a fried would probably die before the end of the day. She hugged him back and began to cry. "I was so scared," she said between sobs. "I still am." Scared at what she saw, scared at the realization that anyone could die.

"Shh, everything's going to be okay baby. We'll take care of it." He whispered to her. He pulled away and whipped the tears of her face. His hand lingered a second longer than necessary before he lifted his defenses and retrieved to the Book of Shadows.

Melinda knew the exact moment when Angel was once more out of her reach but there was no time to dwell over that. There was a rogue dark-lighter on the loose and this was her first real demon hunt, well close enough anyways.

"Is everything really going to be alright?" Penny asked from a corner of the attic. Melinda hadn't noticed her presence until she spoke up. Penny was crawled in a corner of the attic with her sketchbook in hand.

"Of course, baby." Angel reassured her.

Melinda couldn't help flinch at his words. Yep, his defenses were definitely up again.

Five minutes later Wyatt and Chris arrived at the attic. The drive typically was not that long but summer always attracts tourists and the traffic was worse than expected. Chris wasted no time. "You got kicked out because you had a minor in your dorm," he accused.

Angel slammed close the Book of Shadows. "You've been checking up on me?"

"What were you thinking? A fourteen year old girl was found in your room. The girl disappeared so the school didn't have enough proof to kick you out but you were kicked out of your frat and your scholarship was revoked. You couldn't pay tuition so you were dropped. All on the first year of college." Chris shook his head in disappointment. "Why?"

Angel kept an easy stare on Chris. Any demon in the Underworld would know to back down but Chris- as always- ignored the warning. "It's not what you think, okay? We can talk about this later, but we have bigger problems to worry about now."

"I want to talk about it now," Chris said. He put his hand on the cover of the book preventing Angel from opening it. "What happened?"

"I'm warning you. Stay away from my business. Don't piss me off Chris." Angel shoved Chris back with enough force to knock him down. That was his last warning and he hoped Chris got the message.

Chris telekinetically tripped Angel while he got up waiting for Angel to make a combat.

Angel got on his feet in a matter of seconds and reached Chris with the super speed his demon half allowed him. He had him by the neck against a wall when he was forced to the other extreme of the room.

"Enough, both of you!" Wyatt ordered with full Halliwell authority. Both his brothers stayed put. They knew he only used his powers to stop their arguing when they had taken it too far.

Wyatt looked over at Chris. "You had no right to look into Angel's past like that."

"But-" Chris was left speechless after a glare from Wyatt.

"And you, we're going to have a really long talk after this is over."

Angel lowered his head without a word. Stupid Chris. He always did unnecessary things and to top it off he had said it in front of Melinda. She was the last person he wanted to know the real reason why he dropped from UC Santa Barbara and yet she was probably the only one in the room who did.

"Johnny's life is on the line. Can we please focus on finding a cure?" Melinda told her brothers. She need to change the subject, not just for the obvious reasons but because if what Chris said was true then…no she wouldn't go there. She needed to wait until she could talk to Angel alone. She chose instead to recite the events to her brothers from Johnny's arrival to her leaving Ava's clinic.

She noticed how all three kept fidgeting and looking at one another. "What?" She asked. It was a habit of theirs when there was something they weren't telling her.

"I can do it," Angel said starring at the wooden floor.

Wyatt and Chris looked at each other and back at him.

"It's too risky after what happened last time. We agreed that you wouldn't do that anymore." Wyatt said.

Angel looked up at him. "We all knew the moment we heard about the Charmed Ones that I was going to have to go back. It was only a matter of time."

"We're not letting you do this." Chris spoke up.

"Well you guys can't go, you're half-angels not to mention you reek of white-lighter."

"What's going on? What are you talking about?" Melinda raised her voice to get their attention.

Without breaking eye contact from Angel Wyatt answered her, "Angel has been working on a cover in the Underworld for some time now. A couple of months ago he tried to infiltrate a group of demons that were being gathered to form some sort of alliance. Things got out of control and-"

"Howmmuch out of control are we talking about?" Mel interrupted. She wanted to know exactly what had happened.

"The demons were going to creat some sort of Brotherhood. They were a threat so we planned an ambush and Angel's cover was blown. He was badly injured but we got there in time, vanquished the demons present, and faked his death along with theirs." Chris explained.

"I can go back and resume my identity. I can find out what that thing is. I still have connections with demons, warlocks, dark-lighters and many other-"

"No! You are not going to expose yourself like that."

"Wyatt, I'm not a witch like you guys. This is something only I can do. I already made up my mind."

Wyatt stood from his leaned form against the attic's couch. His full 6'2 build, dared Angel to challenge him. Angel was more than happy to do just that. He rose up and stared back at Wyatt evenly. He respected Wyatt as much as any Halliwell, but he was not a Halliwell. He was not a witch, he didn't have angel blood in him, and calling him human was questionable at the least. He was Angel Shiel, demon blood coursed through his veins. His very nature urged him to defy Wyatt but it was the humanity in him that urged him to protect his brothers, his family.

"You are not going down there alone. That is final." Wyatt said.

"You are not coming with me. That is final." Angel responded.

Chris analyzed both of his brothers from where he stood with arms crossed. Putting his current differences with Angel aside he had to agree with Wyatt. Angel had been away from the Underworld for more than a few months, eight to be exact. Returning now out of the bloom would be suspicious. He also had to admit Angel had a point. From the moment the Elder had alerted him, he knew Angel's influence in the Underworld would be instrumental for them. No one had mentioned it thus far but all three of them knew what it would come down to.

"Angel, Wyatt's right. You can't go down there by yourself. You'd be going blinded and we don't know if this thing can track your shimmers as well. It may make the connection between your demonic identity and Angel Shiel. We can't risk demons knowing who you are and what you've been doing. It's too risky. We almost lost you once we are not going through that again." Logic, that was how Chris always tackled his disagreements with Angel. Despite inheriting the act-first-think-later gene the Halliwells were known for, there was a reason why Chris had survived this far. True, part of it was that Wyatt and Angel saved his ass more than once but his ingenuity served to stall for enough time for his brothers to get to him. On top of that he was the one that always came up with a strategy before assaulting a large attack. He had been responsible for the plan where Angel had infiltrated the organization and it was his own miscalculated timing that had almost gotten Angel killed. He would not make the same mistake ever again.

Angel understood all too well the subliminal message Chris sent him. He knew both his brothers blamed themselves for what had happened last time he was Undercover but it wasn't the planning or the twice-blessed potions that had thrown things out of proportion. It was his poor execution. His arrogance had gotten the best of him and he hadn't been careful enough. He had trained all these months to perfect his senses and agility. He's even gone to see a zen master to have better control over his demonic side. That incident had been a wakeup call for him. He needed to get stronger. He had people to protect.

"Whatever that thing is, it doesn't track shimmers." He announced. He wasn't surprised by the curious looks his family gave him. "The organization had been talking about a new race they would create, one to aniline the protectors of innocents. I'm certain this thing is what they were talking about and they would have made precautions as to not be targeted by their own creation. There were some people that knew more about this. They were planned to be executed as soon as they had served their purpose but that obviously never happened."

"Why didn't you say so before?" Wyatt asked. He hated to admit it but Angel seemed to be hiding a lot of things lately.

"Because that had only been theorized and I had more important things on my mind than the organization's plans that would never take place." There it was, another slip on his part. Had he paid more attention maybe he could have prevented the lives that had been taken.

"Fine, you'll shimmer us there. We are more than capable of taking care of ourselves." Wyatt said.

Angel shook his head. "Didn't you hear me? You two reek of white-lighter. Any of the demons I have to interrogate would notice automatically and my cover would be blown."

"Then I'll go."

All three guys turned around to look at Mel. They had completely forgotten they weren't alone in the room.

"I'm not a white-lighter." She reasoned.

"No!" All three of her brothers responded simultaneously before turning back and continuing arguing among themselves.

Overprotective, chauvinistic men. Didn't they realize she was of age and was more than capable of taking care of herself? Her lips formed into a smirk. She'd show them. She telekinetically broke some empty glass viles on the floor to get their attention. Once that was accomplished, with a flicker of her wrist she send the shards flying their way but before they had time to react the shards froze in mid air.

They all looked at her, then at themselves, back to the shards, and finally back at her.

Satisfied, she smiled back at their confused faces. "You were saying?"

"What did you-?"

"How did you-?"

"When did you-?"

It wasn't everyday Melinda left her brothers speechless. "I have all three Charmed powers. I'm more than qualified to go to the Underworld. Don't you think?"

"This isn't a game Melinda." Angel growled.

"I never thought it was." She answered defiantly.

"I can't be down there and watch your ass for when you get in trouble at the same time."

"You don't have to. I'll be watching yours." The moment the words escaped her mouth Melinda saw something flicker in Angel's eyes. _Morning's shower. _Could he be thinking about that? God, had that even happened today?

"No, you're not coming." Why had he even bothered to argue about it with her? It was obvious he wouldn't take her. He wouldn't allow it, Wyatt and Chris wouldn't either. He turned to his brothers. "Tell her she's not coming." He couldn't face her now. Not after the direction his mind had drifted to a minute ago.

Both Wyatt and Chris grew quiet. They had the same crossed arm stance looking at both of them. They looked at each other and then back at them. "It could work." He heard Chris say.

"No, it wouldn't." He said with clenched teeth.

He then looked at Wyatt. There was no way he would endanger her life. "Her powers would give you an advantage and if anything you could always protect her or shimmer her back."

Had they lost their mind? He almost threw away all their hard work last time. He had almost gotten himself killed. His life, he was more than happy to risk, but not anyone else's, especially not Melinda's. "I am not taking her." There was no way in hell they would change his mind.

"And how exactly are you going to identify the creature that attacked us? You weren't even there when it happened." She accuse, at least it felt like an accusation to him.

"You described him to me. I've never heard of a creature that looked like that." He bluffed. Bald human form with pitch black eyes and a tattoo covered body wasn't all that strange in the Underworld.

"And what if you're wrong?" She taunted. Her hands were plastered at her hips, giving her striking resemblance to her mother, Piper Halliwell. Melinda only did that when she had something up her sleeve and he had a feeling he wasn't going to like it.

"Penny," Melinda called.

Chris and Wyatt turned to look at the youngest Halliwell. They hadn't noticed she had been in the same room. The girl walked next to Melinda with her Sketch pad. She flipped it over showing them a sketch of some creature. No, not some creature, _the_ creature. It was of whatever had attacked them earlier.

"I saw it in Pandora's head and started sketching it. I thought it would come in handy and then Mel gave me a better look at it." The thirteen year old said proudly. Unlike her sisters she couldn't read people's minds. Instead she saw pictures of what they were thinking. Melinda had noticed her drawing when her cousins were arguing moments ago and came up with this plan to help Angel. She ripped the page off her sketch pad and handed it to Mel.

Melinda took it, folded the paper, and stuffed it in her bra. "You want it? Take me with you." She smugly crossed her arms which only served to emphasize her breasts.

He turned back to the little girl. At least Penny had the decency of looking slightly ashamed but he didn't blame her. She was only worried about him. Melinda on the other hand…was she trying to get herself killed?

He turned to Wyatt and Chris for support but they only looked at Mel with approving smiles and their eyes radiated with pride. Everything about them said: _that's our baby sister_.

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**A/N**: **As always your guys' ********thoughts and opinions are much welcomed.** **:-)  
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	5. Chapter 5

**********_Disclaimer: ALL CHARACTERS FROM THE CHARMED UNIVERSE BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. NO ___****COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED**. IN OTHER WORDS I OWN N-O-T-H-I-N-G :(

**********_A/N: This chapter focuses on Melinda and Angel. Bare with me people. I know most people would like the focus to be on Chris and Wyatt and I'll admit I want that too but I have to build on their character and at the moment they have enough to deal with the family so in the mean time I hope you enjoy other character interactions. _**

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Mel couldn't believe the place Angel had brought her to. It looked like a demon's lair. No, it was a lair, Angel's lair. This gave her a whole new perspective on him. She had never really thought of him as a demon, sure he shimmered and had powers but he didn't act like a demon. All her memories of Angel were of his arrogance yet kind nature that'd do anything to protect her. This place gave him a more dangerous, demonic demeanor. The cave was darkly light by torch flames and despite the primal appearance of it; Angel seemed to fit right in. There was a table spread with potions and cabinets filled with what looked like medical supplies. There was a bed and that concerned her more than anything. Had Angel lived here?

"Mel, are you listening?" Angel called.

"Huh? I'm sorry what did you say?" She asked timidly. She had been distracted and was well aware that, as it was, Angel did not want her here. She and her brothers had been able to convince him to bring her along, not only with the claim of the sketch but also because she knew of the potions that spilled on the creature. Thankfully her mother had always been organized when it came to potions so she quickly did a count of the potions and identified which ones were missing.

"Pay attention. If you keep zoning out, you won't be able to fool anyone. One more discrepancy from you and I'm sending you home." That had been the condition he had set and he wasn't going to compromise anymore. He understood Chris' and Wyatt's point when they intervened on Mel's behalf, but he wouldn't endanger her more than necessary. If he thought she wasn't ready to be here he'd sent her back. He knew this wasn't Mel's first trip to the Underworld but she had never been to the places Angel was going to go and she had never interacted with the demon the way he'd have to.

"Okay, I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"It better not for both our sakes." He told her. It almost felt like he was explaining to a five-year-old why they shouldn't touch fire if they didn't want to get burn. "I said that while I'm here I go by Blake. So don't even think about calling me anything else, got it?" His tone warned her not to speak. So instead she nodded.

"Good," he said. He took a step back and looked her up and down. His stare was so dominant and full of confidence that it made her feel weak against it. She crossed her arms as if that alone would shield her body against his stare. "What? I already told you I'm not handing you the sketch. Just try to take it by force from me and-"

"I wasn't going to. I was just thinking that we need to get you some clothes." He informed her. He turned away to one of the cabinets in a corner cave wall. Good thing that she spoke up too because he was beginning to get side-tracked and a distraction was one thing he couldn't afford. Not in the Underworld. He needed to think with his head and not with what was between his legs. Unfortunately that was nearly impossible whenever Melinda was concerned.

"What do you mean?" She asked looking over her attire. Tight-fitted jeans with one of her favorite low-cut sleeveless shirts. She was okay dressed for battle, it wasn't like she was wearing a dress.

A devilish smirk took the form of Angel's lips. Melinda hated that smirk; it made her insides turn to jelly. Not to mention that it usually was followed by some condescending remark.

"You're in the Underworld. In case you haven't noticed the theme down here is black leather all day, every day."

"Why is that anyways?" Mel asked genuinely curious.

Angel shrugged. "Beats me, but it seems to be a norm." He answered as he tossed her a pair of clothes. "You can get dressed behind those cave walls." He instructed her pointing to the far end of the cave."

Melinda didn't bother asking how or why he had women's clothes down here, both not wanting to hear the answer and because she knew he wouldn't tell her. "Whatever you say, Blake," she answered dryly earning a gruff sound of annoyance before she faded behind the cave walls.

Angel looked around the cave. Home sweet home, he thought sarcastically. There was a reason why he kept this place as his lair. The cave stretched pretty far off in a maze like form. That gave him a significant advantage when there was an intruder. He gave props to the previous inhabitant of the place. Of course that was years ago when Angel vanquish the astray manticore and took his identity. It wasn't hard after he developed the power to shape-shift in his preteen years.

After mastering the ability to change his form he made secret trips to the Underworld. At first it was for the sake of revenge against his father's murders. But after spending more and more time with his adoptive family, the Halliwells, he learned to look at the bigger picture and decided to go into the family business to protect innocents. He didn't trust himself to do it at first but Wyatt and Chris always supported and encouraged him. They even accompanied him on some occasions to the Underworld. Of course that was before they realized what a commodity they were down here. When he was sixteen he almost got Chris killed and after that incident it never sat well with him knowing that someone of his family was down here.

That was when he first thought of making a permanent name in the Underworld. Wyatt and Chris had no business down here but he was a demon, and as so he felt it was his duty. His brothers hadn't agreed with him, Wyatt didn't want him to endanger himself and Chris worried he'd turn. Then there was an attack at the manor on Chris's 14th birthday that almost got Piper killed. Thankfully Wyatt developed the healing touch and saved her life. After that there was nothing his brothers could say to him to change his mind. They still voiced their objection but they never tried to stop him. He eventually learned of the Nomad Manticore, Blake, and became his disciple. He learned about his race through him, all along with the intent of killing him and creating an identity in the Underworld. Angel had to swallow a lump at the memory.

The bastard knew of Angel's intentions all along. He trained him to be one of them and Angel never realized it, not until he stabbed Blake with the athame Wyatt and Chris had blessed. The words Blake had whispered to him before his vanquish never allowed him peace.

_This is who you are. A murder, a traitor, a demon. If you can do this to your own kin imagine what you'll do to them. It's in your nature._ Not wanting to hear him any longer he used the potion he, Wyatt, and Chris had come up with using Angel's blood. As the flames consumed Blake, he gave Angel one last triumph smile, _Welcome home, brother._

After that, Angel could never consider himself one of the good guys. What kind of monster killed one of its own without feeling remorse? No, Angel never considered himself one of them even when his blood was a key ingredient in the potion. What scared him was that he had orchestrated the plan from the start, he had sought out the demon with the intention of killing him, he had been calculative, and had done so in cold blood. He had felt nothing for the death of the man that trained him, no remorse, no satisfaction, no nothing. It had been as simple as breathing, something so natural. That was what made him a killer, a _murderer,_ a_ traitor, _the _demon_ Blake had seen in him from the start_._

He was then able to infiltrate all sorts of attacks and prevent many lives from ending. He built a reputation of his own and gained powers from other demons. He was feared in the Underworld. No one saw him as a half-bred manticore, he was greater than that. A demon you don't want to cross unless you have a death wish. No one suspected him and no one would unless he used his sonic scream manticores are known for. That was the one thing he would never be able to use as Blake. Each scream carried a different wave length and any manticore would know on the spot that he wasn't Blake but the demon the Halliwells had taken in, their pet, as demons referred to him in the Underworld. He turned away from the memories and concentrated on the task at hand.

Melinda watched Angel as he intently worked on a potion. There was a familiarity in his eyes that made her feel like an intruder, as if she didn't belong in this part of his life. His facial expression gradually changed, morphed into something foreign. She had never seen that look on his face, such cold eyes, but then again today Angel seemed to be full of surprises. What had he said earlier, Chris and Wyatt reeked of White-lighter? Angel shouldn't be able to know that. Sure, manticores were known for high-resistance, adjusting, and sense enhancement, among other things, but they were still lower level. Just how powerful was Angel and why had she never noticed?

Melinda assessed herself one more time. The tightness of the leather pants wasn't something unusual for her but the top…it was a strapless corset. She couldn't even strap the thing because the lace cords were in the back. She gave it one more futile attempt before going through the humiliation of asking Angel to do it for her like if she was a five-year-old that couldn't dress herself properly.

"Angel…" she called.

He didn't bother tuning to her and only let out a gruff sound of acknowledgment.

"I'm having trouble with this thing, can you help me?"

Angel finally lifted his gaze from the potion he had been brewing. His stare made her feel naked in his presence and she hugged the front of the top tighter preventing it from falling and exposing more of her body. For what seemed like the millionth time her thoughts went back to the bathroom in the morning, the way he had looked at her then, the way he was looking at her now. Feeling a blush coming on she turned her back to him, revealing her back and the predicament she was faced with. "Please?" She asked but even to her ears it sounded like a plea.

Angel gulped as he approached Mel. He needed to be at the top of his game now and Mel wasn't making it easy on him. He had never reacted this way to the previous owner of that outfit. Actually he had hardly paid any attention to the clothes back then.

He drew aside the silky long strands of umber and pulled the lace straps of the corset only to be greeted with a soft whimper from Melinda. Damn it, she wasn't wearing a bra. His fingers glazed over Melinda's sun kissed skin, now with a new glow that the torch blames provided, and Angel swore a demon was going to pay for making him go through this torture. And since when did his hands turn to butter at the feel of a woman's skin.

Angel had known Melinda was a danger to his sanity four years ago. Ever since she was fourteen years old and accompanied the guys to check out the colleges she had tormented Angel's dreams. At first he thought he was just being over protective but then all those guys kept making passes at her thinking she was seventeen. That was when his world began breaking apart. Angel had been living with disgust toward himself for years after realizing what his true feelings for Melinda were, something that went further than what a brother should ever feel for his sister.

It was true that he wasn't Melinda's biological brother, but she was still family. He cared too much about the Halliwells to ever betray them that way. He didn't dare admit those feelings to himself because that would break the family he so desperately wanted to protect. Melinda could be forgiven for her crush, because she was young and naïve, but Angel knew better or at least he was suppose to.

She was the reason Angel chose a school outside of San Francisco. Like a coward he fled to Santa Barbara, to put distance between him and Melinda, to distract himself from whatever he was beginning to feel.

"Is what Chris said true?"

Angel barely registered Melinda's words. Talking, talking was good. It was a distraction.

"About what?" he asked dismissively. He didn't know how his voice was able to come out even when he felt completely tongue-tied.

"About why you quit school." Melinda continued. "Was it really-"

She was cut off when Angel finished pulling the lace cords of the corset making her suck in a sharp breath.

"You shouldn't have had to hear that. I'll tell you the same thing I told your brother," he whispered in her ear. "Stay out of my business." With a roughness that she didn't expect Angel pushed her aside.

"But it was my fault. If I hadn't showed up at that party you wouldn't have-"

"Melinda," Angel said fighting for the control he often displayed. "Shut up. We agreed that we wouldn't discuss that ever again. It should have never happened and it meant nothing." He repeated the mantra he told himself day and night. "In any case I couldn't just come out and say you were my sister now could I?" He didn't bother to hide the revulsion he felt at the thought of the incident. "I should have been more careful, had less to drink. It was my fault." Without another word he turned away reaching for a pair of clothes of his own to change into behind the cave's walls.

Melinda could only watch him disappear into the maze-like walls. She had been an idiot four years ago when she casted a spell to teleport herself to Angel's side. She had just wanted to see him and then things escalated out of control and she couldn't let go of the opportunity that was right in front of her. She smiled bitterly at the thought; that opportunity had cost her any chance she might have had with Angel seeing her as a woman. She could still remember the disgust in his face when he realized it was her. He hated her and she couldn't blame him, she had cost him his scholarship and who knows what else. All for her own childish stupidity.

Angel was mad, no, mad didn't even begin to describe how he felt. He was furious. Leave it to Mel to get under his skin, so much for his Zen lessons, he thought sarcastically. That night, that fucking night, was a vivid memory that haunted him every fucking day of his living hell.

It had been the second quarter of the year and the university was holding a masquerade ball, as a frat pledge he was obliged to attend, not that he had any objections with that. As a final test for his initiation into the fraternity one of his frat brothers had snuck in some alcohol for the pledges to consume. As usual Angel felt like showing off and finished a full Vodka bottle. He was sure he just had a light buzz and that was when he saw her. A woman with a mask that concealed the top portion of her face leaving only her eyes exposed. They seemed so familiar to him, so full of innocence that he didn't hesitate to come onto her. Her hair, her frame, even her god damn scent called to him. He had thought he was being delusional but delusion was okay, at least then he could release all the pent up frustration.

He had danced with her, eventually extended an invitation to his dorm. She had only nodded her head as a response. They snuck into his dorm room but before things had gone too far Angel took the mask off and discovered it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him. It was Mel and if that wasn't enough of a shock the university police barged into his room when someone tipped them off that the fraternity had snuck alcohol in. One thing was consumption of alcohol without being legal another altogether was having a minor in the men's dorm.

That resulted in the cancellation of Angel's scholarship and as a final loyal gesture to the frat he took the blame for the alcohol. He was lucky Piper and Leo hadn't been notified of his activities and even more so of not being kicked out of UCSB all together but he did get academic probation. The fraternity had all chipped in to help him pay for the end of the quarter but after that he dropped out since he refused to ask Piper and Leo for money. Money they were saving for Mel's education. Wyatt, Angel, and Chris had all gone to college through scholarships, Wyatt had gotten one from the University for his overall achievements, Angel through sports, and Chris through academics. They didn't want to bother their parents for money and besides it gave them a sense of self-worth.

He did breathing exercises to calm himself and finally shape-shifted into Blake. Once in his new skin any lingering feelings Angel had faded away allowing his alter-ego to take charge of the situation. As Blake he could think more clearly about which demons to go after, which one's would accept an excuse for his absence. It wasn't going to be easy convincing anyone that he survived the attack on the new found brotherhood.

Mel didn't know what to expect when Angel came out. He would either visibly show his anger towards her or he'd turn cold like he had done so ever since everyone moved into the manor. That hurt her more than anything. It was as if she wasn't even worth his time. When she heard the echo of footsteps she didn't hesitate to turn and apologize for her behavior. Her words never made it out of her mouth, though, when she saw the figure come out. That wasn't Angel. Angel had silvery blue eyes, a chiseled jaw and jet black wavy messy hair that sometimes shielded his eyes.

The man in front of her was leaner with short dirty blonde hair. Every muscle in his face seemed to be sculpted and although the man looked handsome his stare was murderous. His eyes were dark depths of emptiness. Everything about him screamed danger. He looked back at her with a measured stare as a devilish smile creped its way into his face.

"An-angel," Melinda called, but the man slowly shook his head.

"Blake," she tried again.

This time the demon gave her a nod of approval. He looked so different, distant. Melinda knew Angel could shape-shift but there was always something in his eyes, regardless of the shape he took form of, that remained the same. This time it was different and it scared her. Melinda was starting to feel alienated from Angel, she needed something, anything, that would make her feel closer to him and the silence that was dragging on wasn't cutting it for her. Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak, Blake took over.

"Now it's your turn," he said in an unfamiliar voice. He went back to the potion he had made moments ago, poured the liquid into a vile and tossed it at Melinda's direction. There was a puff of smoke that Mel began to choke on. "What the hell!" she complained between coughs.

"Much better," Blake said approvingly once the smoke had cleared.

"What does that mean?"

"Look for yourself." Angel motioned to what seemed to be a pond of water in one corner of the cave.

She walked towards it not sure what Angel had done to her. She let out a gasp at her own reflection. Gone was her long brown hair replaced with short curls of bleached blonde. Her plump lips grew wider, her almond shape's eyes more narrow and her coffee colored eyes had been reduced to a soft hazel. She looked like a blonde bimbo.

She stared back at him thoroughly offended. "Is this your type?"

"Blake's yes, not that that's any of your business." He stated unconcerned.

"So what, I'm supposed to be your call girl?" Resentment fueled her words.

Blake smirked back at her. "You'll be whatever I say you'll be."

"I'm not your-" She stopped mid-sentence when she realized the meaning behind his words. He wasn't Angel anymore, he was the demon Blake, and she couldn't be Melinda Halliwell down here. They were on a mission, mission in which her friend's life depended on. "What's my name?" She asked instead.

"Raven." He answered after a moment of thought. "We're going demon hunting. Your scent is too good we need to smear it off." He explained stretching a hand to her. She took it knowing they would shimmer to some demon infested territory in the Underworld.

"Stay close to me." He said before pulling her closer to him as they faded away.

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**A/N: I'm not sure about this chapter but it was necessary.** **What do you think?**


	6. Chapter 6

******_Disclaimer: ALL CHARACTERS FROM THE CHARMED UNIVERSE BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. NO ___****COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED**. IN OTHER WORDS I OWN N-O-T-H-I-N-G :(

**A/N: Hope you enjoy, R&R :)**

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Polly had just finished with the blood samples when she felt the room spinning. She turned to the nearest bathroom looking for a stall she could throw up in. She had never really been good with blood.

Once she reached her destination she didn't hesitate to puke her guts out. Just as she thought she was done she heard someone do the same thing on another stall. That brought another wave of nausea but she had already gotten rid of her early lunch and her stomach was empty. She flushed the toilet and went over to the sink to rinse her mouth. The girl in the next stall was still throwing up and Polly decided to wait for her to be finish knowing that it was someone from her family granted they were the only ones on this floor.

To her surprise the person exiting the stall was her mirror image, Pandora. She hadn't talked to her since the incident happened. She had the feeling that her sister had been avoiding her but so many things had happened in a few hours that she decided she must have been reading too much into it.

Pan had stuck to Prue ever since Mel left the manor with Johnny and it stung that she would chose their cousin over her, but Prue was a Cupid, surely she was the best person to comfort Pan, so Polly let it go.

As Pandora exited the bathroom stall she felt the room spinning again. She probably would have collapsed if it weren't for the pair of hands that sustained her weight. "Careful." She heard her sister say.

Pandora opened her eyes and saw two reflections of herself in the mirror in front of her or rather the reflection of herself and Polina, her twin. They really did look alike, it was so obvious. People would always treat them as one but Pandora had never cared enough to see what others saw. She knew she and her sister were their own individual selves with distinct personalities. So what if a teacher couldn't tell them apart, or if her own family confused them every now and then, it had never bothered her, not really. It wasn't until recently that the thought that one could replace the other indefinitely crossed her mind.

She had always considered her sister her confidant, her best friend, she would have never thought she would be betrayed by her, least of all the way she did.

At first, she thought she could step aside for both her sister's and Johnny's sake. Polly was so much more fitted to be with Johnny than Pandora could ever dream of. It really shouldn't have surprised her that Johnny would fall for her sister especially when she always treated him so coldly. She always assumed that he would come back to her, that he loved her enough to tolerate her spoiled tantrums.

But why? Why did he come up for her if he didn't feel that way about her? Why did he save her? Why did her sister have to fall in love with him too? She didn't want to admit it, but she was beginning to feel as if she hated her sister. She couldn't even stand the sight of her. Ironic since it was her own reflection.

Not wanting to stare at the mirror any longer Pandora pulled away from Polina and reached out for the sink to wash her face and rinse her mouth. "Thank you," she told her sister without looking at her.

"The blood made me nauseous too," Polly said attempting to start a conversation. It seemed forever since the last time they both talked, really talked, and she wanted to know what was going through her sister's head. "Guess no way you turn it we really are twins, huh?"

Pandora flinched at that. "Twins," she repeated turning to her. "What does that mean anyways? That we're suppose to share everything? That we can take each other's things just because we share the same face?"

"Pan…I don't understand what you're saying," Polina said.

"I'm talking about Johnny!" Pandora yelled with tears in her eyes. "Why did you do it Polly? You're my sister," she said in a softer voice coated with hurt. "Didn't you know how I felt, how I feel?"

Polly's fear resurfaced. Why had she send Johnny to check on Pandora when she knew her sister was going to blow off steam? She should have known better.

"I was trying to help," she whispered feeling her own voice breaking.

"Help?" Pandora repeated. "How? By marrying him for me? I love him Polly, but he...you...damn it, I love him." She cried out unable to speak of their betrayal.

"Pan, I don't know what you are talking about." Polina said with tears of her own. "I wasn't going to marry him, I-"

"Lies!" Pandora cried out again. She covered both her ears in attempt to block out the sound of her sister's voice. "You're lying. I saw you both. When I told him to choose between magic and me he left and then I saw you sneaking out of the house to meet him. I saw you, I saw the ring." She yelled in a hoarse voice as she recalled the night. Polina had orbed out of the house and Pandora followed her after sensing her location. She had found Johnny on one knee and a ring on his hand. Polina had jumped into his arms as they both smiled and laughed. Not being able to stand the sight of them Pandora orbed back home.

Polina pulled her sister's hands away from her ears. "Listen to me. He didn't propose to me, he-" she was interrupted by the sound of a slap. Polina stepped back as her hand reached for her aching cheek. Pandora had actually slapped her. They had never striked at one another before and the fact that Pandora did hurt her more than the slap itself.

"Don't…"Pandora began."Don't fuckin' lie to me. I know what I saw that night."

Polina recovered from the shock and returned the favor with the same force her sister had delivered the blow. "You don't know anything. Johnny didn't propose to me, he was going to propose to you. He was rehearsing how to propose to you for the day of graduation. He would have been there but a charge called him and with the different time zones he lost track of time. I sent him to go check on you today because I wanted you guys to make up. I didn't know you would be mad enough to orb away. I wouldn't have send him if I did. I'm so sorry. We were trying to surprise you. I don't see him that way, I've never have, and he loves you, not me."

Pandora began to hyperventilate as she held back her tears. She didn't want to believe her sister, she wanted to be mad at her, she needed to be mad at her because anything was better than the hurt that she was desperately trying to repress.

That's when she realized she didn't believe in the affair, not since Johnny went after her to the attic. She could have jumped in his arms at the time but her pride wouldn't allow it. She needed to hear the truth from him. But at the same time she was terrified of it. What if her fears had been true? Pandora wouldn't be able to handle that and as always she took the easy way out and attempted to orb, the one thing she always did when thing got too complicated, the one thing she was not supposed to do.

It was her, she was responsible for what was happening to Johnny, she was the only one to blame.

Admitting the truth to herself rid her of all her strength and caused her legs to sink into the floor. "This is all my fault." She whispered with tears streaming down her face. "What am I going to do if he dies?" She asked looking up at her sister. "Polly he can't die, I love him, I love him."

Polly sank into the floor with her sister as she pulled her into an embrace. Pandora clung onto her like a child waking up from a horrible nightmare. "I'm scared. I'm so scared Polly, I don't want him to die."

Polina didn't say anything. She held on to her and let her sister cry it out. She wanted Johnny to live as well but she couldn't bring herself to believe it and she couldn't tell her sister something that she herself didn't believe so she did the only thing that seemed right and she cried with her.

Fifteen minutes later, Pandora laid asleep in her arms. Polina thought it was a good thing since none of them could help Johnny at the moment. At least in her sleep Pandora could escape the pain.

Somehow Polly was able to call HJ's phone without waking up her sister. She needed help with Pandora and knew their brother was capable of carrying her. A minute later he entered the women's restroom.

HJ spotted both his sisters on the floor next to the sink. Polly held onto Pan protectively and HJ wanted nothing more than to join them on the floor and squeeze in between them like he often had done when they were kids and a demon attacked. Back then his sisters had held onto him until they were safe again.

Since then his sisters had relied a lot more on him. HJ had been the one looking out for them now, just like the week before with the lower level demons. He felt proud of their confidence in him but sometimes he just wanted to be the spoiled youngest sibling in the family like Melinda and Penny were. But he wasn't Melinda or Penny and if his sisters needed to cling onto him for support then that was okay.

He walked up to them and took Pandora from Polly's arms. "Be careful," Polly whispered. "I don't want her to wake up."

HJ shared her sentiment, his sister shouldn't experience more pain than necessary and being awake would only make her feel helpless. At least in her sleep she could rest. He nodded his head and leaned to kiss his sleeping sister's forehead. Pandora always acted like the tough one but in situations of emotional distress she was the first one to break.

"Johnny…" he heard Pan breathe out.

"It's okay Pan, we'll save him." He whispered in her ear and walked out of the restroom.

He ended up resting her sleeping body in the room next to Johnny as instructed by Ava. As he tugged her in the white hospital sheets, he took a moment to look at her. Her makeup was smeared and tears still traced her face. He grabbed a hold of one of her hands and massaged circles on it only to notice how two of her fingers were tactically coated with nail polish and the remaining three were completely bare.

Any other day, Pandora would complain about her appearance and make HJ get her a hat and sun glasses to conceal her appearance. He smiled with nostalgia at the thought. He would rather meet the demands of his bossy older sister than see the fragile figure of the girl before him.

"She'll be okay, HJ. Mom's doing her best to save your friend." Irina said from the doorway.

"I know Rin," he said before he gently kissed the hand he was holding and headed to the exit.

Irina didn't like his tone. It was the one he used when he felt lost but didn't want others to know. She should know, after all, he was one of her two best friends.

She wriggled her nose and crossed her arms. "I really hate it when you call me that, you know?"

She was rewarded by a heartfelt smile. The first she had see on her friend since his arrival to the clinic.

"Come on, admit it. You secretly like it when I call you that, don't you Rin?"

"I'm serious Halliwell, call me that one more time and I'm gonna kick your witch-lighter sorry ass." Irina threaten. Ever since they attended daycare in Magic School many kids refused to acknowledge the Mitchell-Halliwells as true Halliwells because of their mortal father. HJ had an especially harder time because he was never able to fully gain control over his powers. Irina took it upon herself to chase away the bullies. She would often call him by his last name in recognition of his lineage. Since those days she'd use his last name as a response to the horrendous name he dubbed her by.

"And you've said that, how many times now?" HJ teased.

"That's because Pat always comes to your rescue and you know it." Patricia had been just as protective as her back then and that trait carried on through the years.

"Whatever you say, Nicoli." HJ said exiting the room. As he passed by her he took the opportunity to lightly slap the back of her head and ran out.

"Oh, you're on now, Halliwell." Irina called. She knew the hallways of this floor were completely empty and her mom was too busy to scold her for her behavior so she chased after him without a worry.

"You have to catch me first," HJ countered from a good distance. "Hey," he complained when something hit his head. "Rin!" he scolded, "we agreed you wouldn't throw shoes at me anymore." Damn she had good aim.

Irina hopped towards him on one foot. "No, you said that, but I never agreed. Give me back my shoe." She demanded reaching to take it away from him.

"Oh you want the shoe, get it Shorty." He playfully teased raising the shoe above her 5'2 figure.

"HJ, don't be an asshole, just give it to me." Irina said jumping on one foot trying to get her shoe back. For a moment she mused how HJ had gotten so tall. Two years ago she was taller than him and now he was several inches above her.

"When you say _it_, you mean, umph" He let out when she elbowed his stomach and stepped on him with her shoed foot.

"I mean my shoe." She stated sticking her tongue out. "Told ya I'd kick your ass."

"Technically that was my stomach," he corrected.

"Umm, whatever. You're still the one hurt not me."

Just as HJ was about to make a combat his phone rang. The call was from the manor. "Hello?"

"HJ, we're trying to find the witch that survived the attack from that thing but you guys are the better hackers of the family. I was wondering if one of you could come home and get into the system," Chris said. That was Chris, direct and always to the point. HJ liked that about his cousin, Chris would never sugar coat things.

_That_ _thing_, that Chris referred to was what they had dubbed the Underworld creature that preyed on the Angels. They usually used that name to refer to an Underworld creature that they hadn't identified yet, it may not be the most alluring name but it served its purpose.

"Pan is sleeping and I think Polly would rather stay by her side but I can go." HJ offered. Being the children of a PO, Pan, Polly, and HJ all knew their way around a computer. They were overly curious about their father's profession when they were younger and sometimes got into the system with their father's clearance. Later on they learned to hack into it because their dad kept changing his password. Pandora was the best at it but Polly and HJ were no joke.

Polly for one thing had gotten more information about the woman that survived the attack and had been successful in IDing her as Jasmine Summers and was even able to get an address and contact information. All with the simple use of her phone. Unfortunately Polly had been unsuccessful in contacting her so she had passed down the information to their cousins to see if they could get something out of it.

Wyatt and Chris had taken the task of searching for her while Angel and Melinda were in the Underworld looking for leads on what the _thing_ really was.

HJ heard the prolong pause on the line. His cousins still saw him as a little kid and didn't trust him with demon activity, not that he could blame them. After all he was sixteen and still couldn't master his powers, but this he could do. Just as he was about to make his argument Chris spoke again.

"No orbing," he reminded him in obvious approval.

HJ couldn't help the grin that formed on his lips. "Yeah, I know. I'll be there as soon as I can." He said before hanging up.

"You need a ride?" Rin asked after overhearing HJ's part of the conversation.

"Can you?" HJ asked.

"I was going to get everyone something to eat since, you know, there's no cafeteria here. I can take a detour to your house."

"Thanks, I'd like that." Finally he could be of help, it might not be magical but he would prove his worth.

* * *

Mel was beginning to get tired of all the running around they had been doing in the Underworld. They had vanquished several lower level demons and then they proceeded to finding Angel's – Blake's- contacts. If she was being honest with herself, she'd have to admit that this Angel scared her, a lot.

So far he had killed every demon he came in contact with. On several occasions she had to bite her tongue to not interrupt his interrogations and blow their cover. _It's for Johnny's sake._ She reminded herself…again.

"I told you, I don't know anything." The demon cried out as Angel inserted the athame back into his wound.

"And I told you that unless you give me a name, I'll do this all day." Blake growled in a harsh voice as he twisted the blade earning another cry of pain. "Got anything to say now?"

"Beltz," the demon finally cried out. "You're looking for Beltz. The bastard said the new race would finish off the Angels. The Chimeras wouldn't be able to hurt demons but they would kill the Angels."

"Chimeras?" Blake asked.

Through ragged breaths the demon continued. "Yes, that's what they are called. That's all I know, honest."

Blake narrowed his eyes at the demon. A demon being honest was the biggest joke in the Underworld, but a demon desperate to save his own hind was a whole other story. He could tell this demon didn't know anything else and felt relief knowing he didn't have to drag this interrogation any longer. He inserted the athame deeper into the wound until the demon exploded to ashes.

"Why did you do that? He gave you the information." Melinda demanded.

"He was dead either way." Blake answered neutrally; there was no pain, no regret, no satisfaction in his words.

It had been rather hard to get that bit of information. Whoever was pulling the strings behind the so called Chimeras must be a pretty powerful demon or worst group of demons. Anything was possible. For all he knew the Source itself was behind this. He had yet to ask about the new Source in power, not wanting to attract any more attention but any self respective demon could tell there was order in the Underworld.

When he had taken Melinda demon hunting he was surprised by how each race had claimed certain chambers as their own. Usually there was conflict over certain areas, some being more coveted than others, but demons weren't having any of those petty fights. Clans of demons had stayed together which made it harder for him to find astray demons to vanquish to diminish the scent of human, and unfortunately for them, those small clans had paid the price.

His cover was still a top priority, he made a mental note to frequent the Underworld after the Chimera incident was settled. He had to reacclimatize himself with the demons and extinguish any doubts of being a traitor. Staying away for over half a year would make it difficult but not impossible.

"No", Melinda said shoving him backwards, reminding him of her disapproval with his actions. So many thoughts about her safety ran through his head that he had no time to have an argument with her about how dangerous demons could be. For some reason, despite all the demon attacks to the family Melinda had reservation towards killing demons. She didn't understand and probably never would why he had to do the things he did. "Angel, this isn't you. Doing these things isn't good for you. I know you and this isn't it."

Angel sucked in a breath. He reached for both her wrists and removed her fisted hands from his chest while pulling her closer. "I told you not to call me that here. There are ears everywhere." He whispered as he shimmered them both to a different location. He had to be alert about his surroundings to be able to sense the disorientation of a demon's shimmer. Melinda still didn't understand how grave their predicament was and although he was aware that his behavior scared her, he had no choice but to act this way. If he showed any sign of weakness in the Underworld then he was done for. This was the way the Underworld worked and if he didn't play by its rules then he'd have to pay for it except it wasn't just him. His family was at stake too and he would never allow anything to happen to them, least of all, Melinda.

"You really have to stop man-haddleling me like that." Melinda said pushing herself away from Angel when they materialized once more. "We're back to your cave," she said, taking notice of her surroundings. "Aren't we suppose to go after Beltz?"

"No _we_ are not. Not after the stunt you just pulled."

"So what, we're going home. We can't do that. We need to find out what this Chimera is and if there are more of it. We're so close."

"I know, and I will find that out, while you stay here."

It took a moment for his words to dawn on Melinda. "You're not taking me with you." She accused. "How are you going to ID the Chimera without the sketch or the potions that injured it?" She taunted with a smug smile.

"Oh, you mean this," Angel said showing the sketch from his back pocket and the small pouch of potions Melinda had carried with her.

"When did you-"

"I could have gotten it any time I wanted." Angel answered.

"Then why did you bring me?" She asked with one hand on her hip.

"Because they wanted me to bring you so I didn't do anything stupid. And I obviously can't do something of the sort when I'm too busy babysitting. Now be a good little witch and stay he-"

"Blake." A demon called as he shimmered in. He had messy brown hair that could definitely use a hair cut in Melinda's opinion. He looked roughly around her age, his looks were too boyish to be anything older than eighteen, she decided.

"Blake," he called again.

"Linc?" Blake answered looking at the demon.

"Everyone said you were dead, but I knew, I knew you survived. You just had to. Why didn't you resurface before? I could have-" the demon stopped talking after taking notice of Melinda.

"Raven," Melinda offered.

"Linc, since you're here can you watch her." Angel interjected. He refused to acknowledge her much like he had done in the presence of the other demons. "I have to go tie a few loose ends."

"You're going after the demons that tried to kill you, right? I'll go with you. I can help."

"No," Blake said authoritively. The exchange reminded Melinda of his earlier confrontation with Wyatt and Chris. There was familiarity between the two and Mel had the impression that despite Angel's demeanor there was something vulnerable about him at the moment. That simple two letter word had carried so much conviction that Mel could only conclude Angel cared about this demon.

The thought of Angel actually being friends with other demons had never crossed her mind, especially not by the way he acted with the previous demons they had encountered. How could he get close to demons? They were demons after all, and although the thought of vanquishing demons for sport had never sat well with her, she never considered befriending any of them.

"I've been laying low for a reason, Linc, and it's not because I was vacationing. I've been following the trail of possible demons behind the massacre and I finally found a lead. I'm not about to mess that up because some kid wants to be in the middle of the action." Angel said hoping Linc would buy it. The boy's eyes held his own as his eyebrows furrowed in determination.

"And exactly how are the creators of the Chimeras tied into the massacre of all those demons?"

Angel let out a growl; the kid was good at following a trail, better than Angel would like to admit. "Damnit, how long have you been following me?" He asked not at all content with how he didn't notice him before.

Linc only grinned at him. "I didn't exactly follow you. I was making rounds trying to find a cave to crash in when I found clans of demons vanquished. You're the only one who can clear a cave that fast. I just knew it was you. I checked on some of the demons you were last in contact with before your disappearance and each one was dead. Then I figured you'd eventually be back here so I came here and catched the last of your conversation." He announced proudly. "But what do the Chimeras have anything to do with you?" He asked again.

Measuring his options Angel explained the plans the brotherhood had for a new race and the people behind the creation of them. He knew that would be enough to convince Linc of his need for revenge.

"So they found out they would be vanquished and they planned to kill you guys instead? But they were all high level demons how could they…the blood oath." He answered himself.

"The what?" Melinda interrupted, wondering herself, how her brothers were able to vanquish so many demons at once.

"When you make a blood oath with other demons you force a bond with them. Their flesh and blood can be used for a vanquishing potion for all those who share the blood oath." Linc explained. "The question is, how did they get a hold of the key ingredient for the vanquish potion? The only thing that comes to mind is that they must have killed the weakest firs and used his flesh and blood."

"That's horrible," Melinda let out too caught up by what she was hearing.

Linc gave her a incredulous look, "No, that's the norm, get them before they get you. It's natural selection, you know, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution."

Angel had to hide a smile. Unlike most demons Linc was raised above ground. He was also a half-demon but that didn't diminish his strength. His father was a Celerity demon and well known for his stealth, strength and agility. He had Linc raised with humans to learn their functionality. Hard to believe Demons also cared about the currency and state policies but it helped to manipulate certain aspects of human life or at the very least cover demonic activity.

Angel had found Lincoln on the kid's first visit to the Underworld. He had just taken over Blake's identity and was soft at the time. For some reason the kid grew on him and every once in a while he'd take him out on demon hunts as a way to enhance his senses. Linc fared pretty well in the human world as well. He was damn good on his job and in fact Angel had to be careful not to cross paths with him as Angel because Linc was bound to figure him out.

"Where did you find this one?" Linc asked Blake not bothering to hide his disgust.

"Slave traders," Blake answered. "She has some useful powers but at the moment they are of no use to me." Some demons dedicated themselves in the art of trading. They would kidnap witches from a young age and when their powers matured they would sell them to the highest biter in exchange for powers. Angel considered them to be among the worst scum in the Underworld but they were well protected by other demons that profited from their business and going against them was suicidal.

Linc didn't say anything to him for a minute. "Let me go with you. I promise that I'll watch her and I won't interrupt. I'll make sure she stays out of your way, I'll stay out of your way, just let me come with you."

Angel was about to go through another round of protesting but something made him change his mind. "What can you tell me about the Underworld during my absence?"

"Let me go with you and I'll tell you." Linc insisted.

Blake in front of him in seconds and an athame graced the other demon's skin. "I want answers." Blake said.

The other demon smirked and just as quickly as Blake, if not faster, managed to turn the tables on him and pinned him to the table and maneuvered Blake's atheme to the other's throat. "I want in."

Blake scoffed and shimmered away from his grip. "Answers first."

Without hesitation Linc answered him. "There's a new Source in power. No one knows anything about who it is or how it came to power. It started with simple rival clans ending their feuds, then the activity from the higher lever demons diminished and a rumor went around that any demon resurfacing would pay for the treason nine folds. At first no one believed it and then bodies started appearing on populated corners. The demons relived their deaths nine times and each time was slower and more painful than the last. Eventually no one left the Underworld until just a week ago. Rumor has it that the Source sent demons after the Bless-ed Nine but no one ever saw any of the demons that left for battle."

"Blessed Nine?" Melinda asked. Angel would much rather if she kept her mouth shut like she had done so far. He had actually been surprised she hadn't intervene between him and Linc earlier.

"Yeah," Linc answered directing his attention at her. "You know the Charmed Ones' children."

"Oh," Melinda groaned in disgust. "Please tell me they are not calling u-them, that."

Linc gave her an amused smile. "Your reaction is the same as mine. I don't know who came up with it but that's how it is. I think it has something to do with the oldest being the twice-blessed and then the others are half-cupid, half-whitelighter…except for the sister of the twice-blessed, I heard she's just a witch."

_Just a witch..._If there was even a demon in the Underworld that deserved to be vanquish, it was the one that Malinda was staring at. She could easily lift her arms and…

"Wait, you said nine, but there are ten of them."

"Oh, you mean their demon pet?"

"Pet? He's not a pet?" Melinda countered defensively, then her gaze shifted to Angel. Why wasn't he saying anything?

"Sure he is. What else do you call a demon that has been tamed by witches? He is a disgrace to all demons."

"Enough of them, I want to know about the Chimeras." Angel interrupted knowing full well of Melinda's temper and the lengths she goes for those she cares about. Linc had already touched a sore spot with Mel when he mentioned her powers if he pushed it further Melinda would expose them. Besides, Blake never cared about demon politics and on top of that he was in the middle of a hunt there would be no way he'd be interested in anything other than that.

"Well that was another thing that was not really let out to the public. Rumors of them spread but none were confirmed."

"What did the rumors say?" He insisted.

"Just that they were the Ultimate defense to the Blessed Nine and that they were, well, Chimeras."

Angel didn't expect much from him but that was enough. "Okay, follow me." He smirked shimmering away.

Linc pulled Melinda by the waist and smirked when she glared at him. In a cloud of smoke he disappeared trailing after Blake.

* * *

"Do you think they are alright?" Chris looked up from the Book of Shadows towards Wyatt who was sense-scrying for the woman. Their Aunt Paige had taught them about sense-scrying when they were in high school. Normally white-lighters can only sense their charges but being witches made innocents sort of their charges as well. With enough concentration they could enhance their scrying and locate the innocents with the simple thought of them. That was of no use though because they just had the innocent's name and no face to identify. Chris wasn't about to point that out knowing that his brother was just trying to keep himself busy just as he was doing with the Book of Shadows.

They had never been this helpless before. Chris wasn't sure if it was because they were so used to orbing that taking that away was like taking a part of them. Perhaps, it was knowing that there really was a threat that could finish them off for good. It was probably a combination of both.

Wyatt took a deep breath and opened his eyes taking a break from his sense-scrying. He knew it was no use but he had to try besides it was a way to pass time while HJ got home. Johnny was a decent guy and knowing he might lose his life simply because he was looking out for his family made him wish he could switch places with the other witch-lighter.

"Angel wouldn't let anything happen to Melinda," Wyatt answered. And that was another matter, his brother and sister were stuck in the Underworld looking for leads. He knew Angel could handle himself but with Melinda by his side he wasn't sure how he would fare.

"I wasn't talking about the Underworld, I mean, you know…" Chris trailed not wanting to finish that sentence.

"Chris I'm not talking about that. Not even to you."

Chris stayed silent. This was always his response to that subject. "You know, for a guy that acts like the epitome of kindness, you can be pretty cruel."

"And you can be pretty sensitive for someone that claims he doesn't want to be part of something." Wyatt countered.

They both faced off knowing they were both looking for a way to blow off some steam.

"Hey guys, I'm here. Sorry I took so long, Rin…am I interrupting?" HJ commented as he entered the attic.

"Not at all HJ. We've been waiting for you." Wyatt greeted being the first to break away from the stare competition.

"Are you sure you can hack into the system?" Chris asked, the argument long forgotten. He knew his cousin was an good when it came to technology but he felt a bit guilty for putting him up to this when his dad was a cop. In a way he felt it made the offense twice as bad.

"Dude, don't worry about it. It wouldn't be the first time I do something like this." HJ said sitting himself comfortably as his fingers began typing.

"What?" Chris and Wyatt asked.

"Dad sometimes wanted to keep an extra eye on his parolees and he didn't want my sisters to do it because they would use that against him so he asked me instead.

"I can't imagine Uncle Henry doing that." Wyatt commented with a shake of his head.

"Although it does explain how our parents would bust us when we sneaked out at night in high school. I never understood how they caught us after we cloaked our presence from them." Chris added remembering his mother's knowing look the mornings after.

"Oh yeah, sorry about that but you guys really should have turned off your phones. Your mom had me check on you guys every once in a while to make sure you were both okay."

Wyatt and Chris shared a look before reaching for their pockets.

"What about Angel and Mel?" Wyatt asked. He wasn't surprised his mother resorted to that since using magic would have had consequences however he did make a mental note to talk to his father about it.

HJ let out a snort. "Dude, they do it to all of us. Normally I would have refused but Aunt Piper is pretty scary, she had me check on Angel almost on a daily basis. Then she would be on the phone with him trying to get information out of him. You know how she is, she guilts you into not doing whatever it is you are about to do without even talking about it."

The brothers smiled with nostalgia. That was their mother alright.

"Done," HJ announced.

"Whataya find?" both brothers asked looking at the screen.

"Looks like, the victim Jasmine was a flight attendant. Guys, she died two days ago." HJ said after checking the date.

"Maybe, it's another Jasmine Summers." Wyatt offered, ever the optimist.

"I don't think so…" HJ said quickly trying to find new information on the person but only coming up with a picture. "See her necklace? It's the sun and a crescent moon. That's a wiccan talisman. Plus there is this tattoo, I think I've seen it somewhere before."

"What about medical records?" Chris inquired.

"I can't access those. Ever since 5 years ago medical records have been kept under lock and key. It would take me days to break their security and since it happened so recently there might not be a digital record yet." There had been many cases of identity theft from diseased people in the years following 2015. Then the government had implemented laws regarding the disclosure of medical records after a Navy SEAL's identity had been stolen by a extremist that wanted to blow up some memorial landmark. Some private institutes didn't carry digital records anymore to protect privacy confidentiality.

"Wait!" HJ exclaimed after he came across an interesting fact. "Her last stop was here in San Francisco. It's only been two days and if her cause of death is what we think then I doubt the autopsy is finished. And even then the hospital should have transferred her records to their computer. If I get in I can access their mainframe."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go." Wyatt said heading for the door.

Chris shook his head. "Wyatt, we need some sort of plan. We can't go in blind. We just chided Angel for this too." Chris scolded.

"Well, what do you suggest?" Wyatt challenged.

"How about we use the truth spell and we change our appearance to hospital employees who's shift start later on today." HJ suggested trying to diffuse the sibling fight. "They'd forget all about us and if we can't access something we just ask someone to give us their password. I got three pictures of the identities we can use. One's a nurse, then there's a doctor, and the last is the janitor. They were the only males I could find." HJ explained from his computer.

"Truth spell is too risky. We'll be in danger of exposing ourselves." Wyatt explained.

"No, it might actually wok if we use someone else's appearance. It's still a gable but the best bet we have." Chris said siding with HJ. He saw merit to using the truth spell. He could ask Angel about UCSB and he'd have to tell the truth.

"Fine." Wyatt agreed reluctantly. He didn't completely trust the two way of the truth spell but Johnny was a priority. "Here, I'll change our appearance."

_I call upon the twice-blessed power,_

_To mask us three_

_Now and in future hours._

_Hide us well and thoroughly,_

_But not from those we call family._

With a snap of his fingers white lights showered them all and gave them their new appearance.

"You couldn't just stick to the spell on the book could you?" Chris said in mock disapproval of Wyatt inserting his twice blessed status into the spell.

Wyatt grinned at him. Ever since they were little Wyatt learned that if he called on the twice-blessed powers most of the spells worked without repercussions. A fact that annoyed Chris since he had to be careful about his wording to evade personal gain. "Let's see if it worked." He said changing the subject as they all moved towards the antic full length mirror.

Chris grimaced at his reflection "Why am I the janitor?"

"The spell changes you into the person you are thinking about. You must have been concentrating on the janitor." Wyatt explained.

"Well, why are you the nurse instead of the doctor?" Chris countered.

Wyatt shrugged. "I wasn't being picky. This was the first person I saw from the images HJ pulled up.

"And why are you the doctor?" Chris asked HJ. He should have thought of the doctor.

"Doctors have the most clearance," HJ explained. "Let's do the truth spell next."

The three of them gathered around the book and read the spell together.

_**F**__or those who want the_

_truth revealed,_

_Opened hearts and secrets_

_unsealed,_

_From now until it's_

_now again,_

_After which the memory_

_ends._

_**T**__hose who now are_

_in this house,_

_Will hear the truth_

_from other's mouths._

"So, did it work?" HJ asked. He didn't usually do spells since they mostly back fired.

Wyatt and Chris exchange a wicked smile before turning to him. "HJ, are you still a virgin?" Chris asked.

"Yes," HJ answered without hesitation before realizing what they had done.

Both brothers snickered. "Guess it does work." Wyatt said.

"That wasn't funny" HJ said glaring at them. "Well, when was the last time either of you got laid."

"This morning."

"Four months ago."

"I thought you were at Berkeley this morning." Chris said accusingly at his brother.

"I was...and then I met this girl that I knew from high school and one thing led to another so, yeah." Wyatt said proudly. "Four months, really?"

"I've been busy." Chris assured him.

"Really?" Wyatt asked with amusement.

"No," Chris confessed. He cursed the truth spell. It wasn't fair the words just rolled out of his mouth before his brain could process what was being asked.

Wyatt scoffed at his brother.

"Fine, yes, it's been four months. Happy?"

"Not really." Wyatt answered truthfully.

"Okay, if we're done discussing your guys' sex lives and my non-existent - can we get going now?"

Unknown to the guys their little cousin was just outside of the attic hearing their exchange. She knew they were abusing the truth spell and her mom had warned her and her sisters the repercussions of abusing magic. She figured her cousins needed to learn a lesson so with a mischievous glint in her eyes Penny entered the room with the innocent look that she always gives her daddy when she wants something.

"Guys, what's sex?"

* * *

**A/N: As always your guys' ********thoughts and opinions are much valued. Any and all are welcomed. :-)**


	7. Chapter 7

**********_Disclaimer: ALL CHARACTERS FROM THE CHARMED UNIVERSE BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. NO ___****COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED**. IN OTHER WORDS I OWN N-O-T-H-I-N-G :(

**A/N: Okay so it's been a while but here's the chapter. Thnx for the reviews they really do help. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

After Penny's question, the brothers looked at their younger cousin for an answer. Yeah, because he was an expert on the subject. All he did was raise his hands defenselessly.

"Don't look at me! I don't have one." He said earning a well deserved glare from his older cousins.

"It's when you have sex." Chris blurted out thanks to the truth spell.

"And how do you have sex?" Penny asked innocently. HJ knew better. He had grown up with two older sisters he knew the games they played.

Wyatt, the valiant one, managed to give a clinical response to her question. HJ turned away not believing this was really happening. He was sixteen. He should be getting "the talk" from his parents not being part of this conversation in regards to his youngest cousin. From the corner of his eyes he saw Chris sitting in the couch burying his crimson face in his hands. He was tempted to use his own hands to cover his ears and yell, I CAN'T HEAR YOU, but figured that would only amuse his little cousin more.

Chris finally removed his hands off his face, walked over to Penny, and crouched to her height. "Alright, squirt," he said at her eye level. "Who do you have a crush on?"

"Daniel." Penny answered before realizing what he was up to. "You can't-"

Chris didn't give her time to speak. "Daniel who?" He asked.

"Micheals."

"Billie's and Tyler's kid?"Chris asked with amusement. Everyone in the family knew Penny had a crush on the boy just as they knew he liked her too but their Aunt Phoebe made them all promise they wouldn't intervene.

Billie was like family, a surrogate aunt, to all of them, having met their mothers when she came to her powers. Tyler had been another witch their mothers encountered when he was about Penny's age. He was a fire-starter, a rare type of witch whose powers were coveted in the Underworld. During Billie's junior year in college she met Tyler when the Charmed Ones sought her help in vanquishing a demon that was after his resurfaced powers.

"Yes," answered a defeated Penny. Her face had turned several shades of red. She deserved it HJ thought.

"Chris, that's enough." Wyatt interrupted, taking pity on the girl.

"She started it." Chris argued taking a quick glance back at his brother.

Wyatt crossed his arms and fixed his brother a mix look of amusement and irritation, "She's thirteen and you are twenty."

Chris rolled his eyes. Sometimes he wished Wyatt would let loose more instead of always making himself responsible for everything and everyone, he might actually enjoy himself. It was ridiculous how much he tried to shoulder. One of these days, Chris just knew his brother would snap. Nonetheless he did have to own to his childish behavior. He stood up and gave his baby cousin one last look.

"Why start with all the questions?" He asked as a sign of truce.

Penny bit her bottom lip and looked at the floor. "Because you were taking advantage of the Truth Spell and _mom said_ we shouldn't abuse magic." Guilt pulled at Chris but he quickly recovered by her next words. "And…because it seemed fun," she whispered.

Fun? HJ was about to add his two cents into the conversation when Wyatt stepped in again.

"Penny what you did was also abusing of the Truth Spell and you've made us waste time that we could be using to help Johnny. You know that, right?"

Penny ventured a glance at her oldest cousin. "Yes, but I thought- I'm sorry." She finished without making excuses for herself after seeing the stern look on his face.

"Okay, here's the deal. What happened here between us stays here, no one says any of the truths we have revealed, got it." Wyatt finished. It wasn't really a question, regardless they were forced to answer thanks to the spell.

A chorus of agreements rose from the other three Halliwells.

The drive to the hospital was longer than any of the Halliwell passengers wished it to be. HJ should have known personal gain would catch up to them one way or another. Since then, none of them dared to speak to the others. Personally, HJ just wanted to avoid a slip of the tongue and accidentally reveal more than what he wished. He had a strong suspicion his cousins felt the same way.

When the car finally parked Chris went over the plan one last time. He and Wyatt would run interference in what they could while HJ accessed the hospital's mainframe and searched for anything about the diseased witch. Penny would be kept on reserve in case something went wrong. Then she would make some sort of scene that would give HJ time to escape. The plan was a little sketchy but it was a plan they intended to follow through.

* * *

As if Melinda didn't have enough with Angel, oops, Blake, now she had to deal with another equally stubborn and pig-headed demon. Said demon had taken the liberty of pulling her against him while sleazing his hand down her spine before smoking them to wherever goddamn-Blake shimmered to, and Angel actually allowed this to happen. Fine, so it might not have been the greatest offense in the world, but still, he was a demon and Angel as overprotective as he was didn't so much as batted an eye at it.

He was so going to get it once they got home because Melinda would make sure to relate this incident to Wyatt and Chris. No matter what, she could always play the little sister card with them, even against each other. The thought of it gave her peace of mind and allowed her to calm down.

That didn't last long, though. She was left outside guarding the cave of the demon they were after with Blake's demon friend. Angel was inside _talking_ to the demon. Yeah, talking, that's what he would do. She had seen how he _talked _to the other demons._ All others except for this demon, _a voice crept inside her head as she ventured another glance towards what's-his-name. When he felt her gaze he once more gave the slightest tilt of the side of his lips. A gesture she had identified as amusement and that alone irritated her to no end.

Seriously, since when did she need a babysitter? A guy who looked around her age, no, not a guy, a demon. That was insulting to say the least. Okay, so Angel acted semi-normal around this demon, so he couldn't be that bad, right? Wrong, the demon kept giving her these looks that made her uneasy. Sometimes it would be discrete curious looks, others, mocking knowing ones, and she swore she caught him checking her out at least twice. It wasn't like she was scared but it did cause discomfort. Guys she could handle, but this demon didn't look at her with the interest you'd expect from a guy. It was like he was sizing her up for something and he didn't seem to approve of what he saw, whatever that was.

"What?" she finally asked.

"What's, what?" he answered, facing her directly for the first time since they smoked in.

"What's up with that grin you keep giving me? It's creeping me out." She answered.

"And the fact that I'm a demon doesn't?" He asked teasingly.

"Blake's a demon." She answered back; proud of the fact she didn't slip and called him by his real name. At least before the demon's lips curved to a full grin. He looked satisfied with her answer as if she had just proven him right about something.

"Yes he is and you are a witch that has been a slave to demons, right?" He mocked.

Crap. What was wrong with her, she knew about witches that had been subjected to demons. She had studied their behavior and tendencies at magic school. An enslaved witch wouldn't feel comfortable around demons nor would she act as anxious as Mel had been since she was left alone with him. Enslaved witches developed a tolerance for demon presence to where they would only talk when spoken to, and above all show obedience to their masters. Why hadn't Angel warned her of her behavior? _Why should he? He's trying to find the ones responsible for the Chimera's_. The voice spoke once more.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." The demon said after her prolong silence.

"You haven't answered my question." She reminded him, going back to their original conversation, as if his statement hadn't surprised her.

"You're not really blonde are you?" He ignoring she'd spoken.

His question threw her off guard. How could she have messed _that_ up? Had Angel's potion worn out? No, Angel wouldn't have been careless about it, not when it came to the Underworld and definitely not about her safety.

"You're not going to answer me are you?" She asked realizing he was trying to throw her off her game.

"Are you?" He asked back.

Melinda could see why he and Angel got along so well. They both liked to talk in riddles. Saying things without really saying them.

Without having anything else to say, Melinda turned away from him, signaling the end of their conversation. She stayed quiet and let her thoughts travel back to Angel as they always did. Was he okay? Did he find what he was looking for? Why wasn't he out yet? How long had it been since he went inside?

"He'll be okay."

Melinda turned back to the demon. She wanted to tell him off. How did he know? Why hadn't he put up a better fight to go inside with him? But she didn't get the chance to.

"I know he will," he continued meeting her eyes. He really believed it; she could tell by the way he spoke. There was no doubt in his statement so much so that she wanted to believe him too. And she hated herself for it, he was a demon for Christ's sake.

Then there was his eyes, he looked at her with a silent promise. A promise she couldn't quite decipher. More than that though, there was something in them that reminded her of Angel the times that demons attacked the Manor and he protected her. Self-loathing, the human part of a demon-humsn hybrid that rejected everything the demon part stood for.

"How long have you known him for?"

The demon shrugged, "Couple of years. I haven't really keep track."

"But you trust him." She concluded. There was something in the way he acted around Blake that reminded her of her brothers' usual banter.

"With my life." He answered without hesitation. He gave her a measured look, waging how much he should share with her.

Melinda felt slight pity for the guy. He might trust Angel with his life but Angel couldn't possibly feel the same way. This was a demon and Angel was down here undercover. There was no way he trusted him, it was all an act that was it. Angel was just using him and his trust to get what he was looking for. Angel didn't belong here, he wasn't like this demon.

The struggle in his eyes seemed to be over. He looked towards where Angel had disappeared to and continued to speak. "There isn't a lot of things demons value but loyalty and trust, even a demon knows how valuable and rare that is. You might not believe me but that's how it is with Blake and me. I don't need to know everything about him, just enough to know I can trust him." He turned back to her and gave her a lazy smile. The kind that was care-free and honest. The kind that she branded as human.

Melinda was more confused than ever but before she said anything that she could possible regret. His expression became alert and he pushed her behind him.

An energy ball hit his left shoulder and just as it made impact he launched one of his own to the demon. The demon incinerated in a matter of seconds only to be replaced with a hornet of demons.

"This. Is. Not. Good." Melinda said.

"You think?" The demon asked. "What are your powers again?"

Melinda was about to answer when she had a premonition of a demon attacking from behind. She turned around and telekinetically aimed his fireball to one of the other demons. Then she proceeded to using him as a shield when another attack was made towards them.

"Okay, so you're not totally useless."

Melinda only had time to roll her eyes at his comment. A gesture he obviously missed as demons began to attack in groups from different angles. She constantly kept moving and attacking using telekinesis as her partner vanquished demons using combinations of energy balls and super speed to gut the demons.

Before she knew it the cavern had been cleared. She searched for her demon companion and found him across the empty cave taking care of the last demon. The demon didn't have a chance, as it burned to flames her companion searched the place finally resting his eyes on her.

Everything after that happened too fast for her to fully register. The first thing she noticed was the way his body stiffened only seconds before she felt the pressure of a blade against her skin and the force that wrapped her body rendering it weak. Then there was the breeze of the dagger that flew inches away from her face and finally the warmth of the flames as her assailant incinerated to ashes. Her legs gave out and half a second later her companion was crouched by her side checking for any possible injuries.

"Are you okay?" He asked, the timbre in his voice filled with both concern and relief. Eyebrows furrowed as his face rested centimeters away from her. The shadows of the darken room played tricks with her head as she recalled an earlier feeling of today. Adrenaline pumping, knots in her stomach. She almost died a second time today.

_Are you okay?_

_Thank god you are okay._

Somewhere in the back of her mind she was aware that it wasn't the same, whatever conclusion she was forming it was flawed but her body wasn't listening. She closed her eyes and threw her arms at the demon knocking him off balance as she held onto him like her life depended on it.

That was twice already she could have died in one day. And this was only the beginning. She received a tight reassuring squeeze back, and for a second, that made everything okay. Just a second, though.

"What's going on here?"

Melinda opened her eyes, the echo of the voice bringing her back to reality. She took one look at the demon beneath her and jumped out of his grasp.

* * *

They were in and although it was his plan, Chris couldn't help doubt if it would really work. There were too many uncontrolled variables into play not to mention this plan rested on HJ's execution. Granted there wasn't really anything dangerously demonic about what they were doing, they were still doing something illegal, what great role models he and Wyatt were for their cousins. On his defense, it was for the greater good, that should count for something, right?

Getting their clearance was the easy part. Their first hurtle came in the form of a nurse when she approached HJ. She kept talking about a patient and although HJ was successful in B. his way, no one missed her not so settle behavior with him. The brush of hands, her flirty smile, and above all her teasing suggestions.

"Doctor, I can't find my mommy. Can you help me?" To everyone's relief, Penny called pulling at HJ's coat.

"Oh, sweetie, the nurse at the front desk can help you with that." The nurse at HJ's side answered.

Penny shook her head. "I want the doctor to help me. Where's my mommy?" She asked with a higher pitch, promising to make a scene if she didn't get what she wanted.

"It's okay, I can help you." HJ said making a break for it.

"But doctor, what about dinner?"

"Maybe some other time." HJ answered from a safe distance.

Once they turned at a corner of the hallway, Penny turned to HJ. "Dinner? You do know she's like 10 years older than you, right?" Penny asked.

"Yes, Penny, I know. I wasn't serious Penny, besides that's this guy's problem, not mine," HJ said pointing at his face.

"You weren't exactly refusing her and the guy might be married or something. Why did you make it seem that you were going to consider it?"

"I…I just wanted her off my back, and she was hot." HJ admitted truthfully not able to face his little cousin.

Penny murmured something about boys and rolled her eyes.

Wyatt shared a look with Chris and knew instantly that his brother shared his amusement. Being the youngest, they often forgot she too was a Cupid. When it came to matters of the heart, she was no better than Prue and wouldn't tolerate foul play. It wasn't often that they got to interact with her and it was times like this that gave this whole situation some meaning.

_Everything happens for a reason._ Their mother had drilled that into their heads while growing up and yes they were always able to see the silver lighting at the end of the tunnel but it didn't make things any easier. Moving in together was out of necessity and so was transferring back home, a decision that was not easy to make for either of the brothers, it also wasn't an easy process and they both knew they were going to have to pull every string they had to make it happen, but was it all for the greater good? Perhaps not, in the past years everyone became too preoccupied with their own independence from magic and what tied them all together that they took family for granted. It was normal, people, including family, drift apart. There was nothing unusual about that, but for a Halliwell it makes all the difference.

It was the banter between siblings, the fights over the bathroom or coffee pot, the jokes, and all those moments in the last couple of days that reminded Wyatt of simpler times and gave him hope to enjoy them once more. He glanced to his brother again and realized there was something brewing in his head, the way it always did when demons were involved.

"Okay, this is where we split." Chris voiced loud enough for only the four of them to hear.

"W-Wh-What? What do you mean split?" HJ asked concern evident in his voice.

"I mean, I think people are beginning to wonder why a doctor, a nurse, a janitor, and a girl are walking together." Chris replied sarcastically.

"But you said-" HJ began to protest but was quickly silenced by Chris.

"I said, we would improvise once we were in." Chris reminded him before turning to his brother. "Wyatt, try to find out where her body is located and see if you can…" Chris trailed, frustrated at the dead end he came across.

"Orb it?" Wyatt asked knowingly. Orbing wasn't his primary use of transportation but not being able to use it when demons were concern was a handicap he hadn't realized he had. No wonder Melinda was so touchy about not being able to teleport in any form.

"Yeah, that." Chris answered. "Okay new plan, locate the body and see if you can get it out of here. We need to get that body to Ava, if she really did die from something demonic we can't leave her here where she can be exposed. Penny you go with Wyatt. If anything happens pull the innocent girl routine you just did with HJ." He ordered. "HJ, you need to get on a computer fast and do your thing, also try to delete anything that has to do with her."

"Chris, this is going to take some time and I don't think I can-"

"HJ, there is a witch that probably died from demonic reasons. We cannot leave the body here. As it is we don't know what they found in the autopsy. You need to delete any information about her."

"Chris is right, we cannot risk exposure," Wyatt added. "I know we are asking for a lot here, but just do the best you can and we'll deal with the rest as it comes. Ava's is doing all she can in her lab and Melinda and Angel are down in the Underworld looking for leads. We need to do what we can here, that's all we ask HJ, just do what you can."

HJ nodded his resolution. There was no time for hesitation. Besides he had a wild card he could count on when all other thins failed.

"So, that leaves you, Chris, with HJ." Wyatt finished.

Chris nodded in agreement. That left him cleaning up other people's messes, Great.

* * *

Pandora felt light, it was almost as if she was floating in air. There was something familiar about this feeling but she dared not to hope, still she looked around the thick fog that seemed to surround her until it slowly drifted off. She was in the library at Magic School. A distant memory formed before her eyes.

_She walked into the furthest part of the library trying to get away from everyone in the damn school. They didn't even care about her. All they saw in her was her name and most of the time it was only to ridicule her for it. She had had enough. She had begged her mom to allow her to go to a different school, a normal one, away from magic._

_Unfortunately her active powers had resurfaced and she needed to learn to control them. Her powers first manifested when she was an infant and her parents thought it best to bind them until she was old enough to control them. Now at thirteen she wondered if it was still too soon. So far all she had learned was the trigger, anger and stress, imagine that. Another reason for her to stay away from people, they stressed her out and that lead to making her angry. She had argued this point with her mother, this school was a trigger in itself for her. If she went to a normal school, it should stop._

_But what if it didn't? What if, instead, an accident happened? What if she was exposed? Her mother had asked._

_Her father suggested binding her powers indefinitely but she knew she couldn't do that. She grew up with magic all her life, her family was magical, and as much as she hated it, her powers were a part of her and whether she liked it or not they helped shape who she was. That was one thing she and her mom agreed on._

_So all that left was for her to make an outcast of herself, so far it was working. Who needed people anyway? _

_All her life she had counted on the fact that Polly, her twin sister, and her were together in everything. They both feared the demons that chased them every other week or the nag of potion making and spell casting. The orbing though, was pretty cool. This time however, Polly, did not share her pain. Whereas Pandora would incinerate something to flames when angry, Polly could literary freeze someone ice cold when she was embarrassed or scared. They were total opposites, fire and ice, so much for twins._

_Their mother had explained that their powers were both Warren powers and how a past life of both their Aunt Phoebe and their diseased Aunt Prue possessed these powers. In addition a past life of hers could conjure all elements so there was a possibility that in the future they would be able to manipulate other natural elements. Pandora feared that would happen especially since HJ had started to show powers that weren't exactly elementals but close enough. _

_From an early age he had developed chronic bronchitis and would get fever spells, nothing magical about that, right? Except that on his bad days when he ran a cold fever, the sky would cloud and unleash a storm that no weather forecast could predict on time. When the fever grew hot the temperature would reach past 105. At first his mom suspected some Underworld creature was somehow manipulating the weather until one time when his fever kept running cold and hot all over again, the doctors identified it as bronchitis pneumonia, and all hell went loose with the weather. Ignoring the weather changes was impossible, but even then, twelve-year-old Chris had been the one that made the connection. That's when they all realized HJ could manipulate weather patterns; her mother called it Thermokinesis, as well as the dawning realization that in turn his powers were jeopardizing his health. He was unable to control his powers and his little body could not handle the toll it took. Even after all these years Pan cringed at the memory of her little brother suffocating and being rushed into the ER. _

_Without a second thought her mother and aunts decided to bind the powers of the six year old._

_Sometimes she envied her brother for that. He was no longer bound by the burden of his powers and yet got to keep his whitelighter side without the responsibilities that the rest of them had to uphold to. Polly's power could be dangerous but not lethal, at least not immediately. Which left her alone._

_She was alone in this so there really wasn't any reason for her to spend time with people that she could hurt just because they annoyed her in one way or another. The mere thought of it brought about the symptoms of a growing migraine which usually indicated she was about burn something. She took out her iPod and played some music to help her relax. It always made the trick though it was ironic how it was rock and alternative what eased her tension. She cranked up the volume droning herself in the sound and forgetting her surroundings. Just what she needed until a hand startled her by grazing her back. On instinct she flinched and the homework she had invested two hours in was reduced to debris, along with it her possibility of passing the class and earning her a week of an allowance cut._

_No volume of music could possibly drown the wave of anger that rushed through her. She literally felt her body's temperature rise. With all the calm that she could muster she turned with a glare at the intruder. And just like that her anger evaporated._

"_Marks, that was my homework. You better have had a good reason for sneaking up on me?" _

"_I'm sorry, I tried calling your name but you…is that smoke coming from your head?"_

_Pandora was frozen, not the magical frozen like when Aunt Piper froze things, but shocked frozen, which was way more embarrassing. No, her powers couldn't possibly betray her like that. Why in front of John? Her face grew warmer, if that was even possible, was she blushing? _

"_Urgh, this is all your fault." She said, now really angry._

_John Marks was a student at Magic School, but her history with him ran deeper than that. They first met when his father sought her mother's help over a relative that had turned evil and wanted to destroy the family line. At the time Jonny was the first kid outside the family that Pandora really interacted with. When the witch had attacked, Jonny had protected her. After that incident they became friends, much to her dad's disapproval. It wasn't until recently that she began to question her feelings for Johnny._

"_I'm…sorry?" Johnny replied, somewhat unsure._

"_Oh look, if it isn't the Halliwell-oh wait no-Matthew-Mitchells girl. Looks like she can't control her powers unlike the real Halliwells."_

"_That's what happens when you mix Whitelighter blood with humans."_

"_Have to hand it to Marks for being around her. He probably feels sorry for her."_

_A group of kids murmured in a corner of the library. Pandora fisted her hands and looked at the floor trying not to get affected by their words. So what if her last name was Matthew-Mitchells and not Halliwell. Who cared if her father was human, most students at Magic School had a least one mortal parent. And what did it matter if she couldn't control her powers, that was the whole point of attending Magic School in the first place. She had nothing to be ashamed of but she couldn't help the sting their words caused. It was nothing new really, her and her siblings were used to it, but why did they have to say all of that in front of Johnny._

_Oh no, her eyes were stinging, she couldn't cry, please don't cry. She began to get her things together, shoving everything into her backpack while ignoring the presence of Johnny._

_She felt a hand pulling her backpack only to realize it was Johnny._

"_I can carry my things on my own." She said in a whisper hoping her voice didn't give her away. All she wanted was to get to the nearest restroom and cry her eyes out. Maybe even orb home._

"_I know you can." He answered with a smile. It was suppose to be encouraging but for Pan it seemed more out of pity and that was the last thing she wanted from him._

"_Thanks but I rather be by myself right now." She argued trying to retrieve her belonging. _

_He hald on to the backpack, "Pandora…"_

"_Johnny there you are. A couple of us were planning to practice some spells before class. We were wondering if you wanted to join us." A girl from Johnny's advance magic class approached them. _

_He name was Candace and Pandora was well aware that she was responsible for the bulling of her and her siblings. The girl had it in for her for some time now, and it all had to do with Johnny. _

_In fact it was because of Candace that Pandora began to realize how she felt for her childhood friend. The moment she was recruited at Magic School she had been all over him. Johnny had been just as friendly as with anyone else but for some reason she couldn't help the jealousy that burst inside of her whenever the two were together._

_The girl was undeniably beautiful with dark curls cascading her face and big grey eyes that mesmerized everyone at campus. Not to mention her overly developed appearance. That combined with the friendship she hit off with her cousin Prue, Candace was incredibly popular._

_Pandora was the only one of her family that knew her for who she really was: a real witch. There was no doubt in her mind that that little group had informed her of her encounter with Johnny and of course she had to show up._

_For once though Pandora was glad for her interference, this way she could ditch Johnny and continue merry way to solitude where there'd be no witnesses to her breakdown._

"_You guys do that. I have to go anyways." Pandora excused herself._

"_Oh, Polly, no Panny, I'm sorry I forget, which one are you again?"_

"_It's Pandora actually, Polina is my sister."_

"_Right. I'd invite you, but I hear you have your own problems to deal with. Oh look you're steaming again"_

_Pandora lifted her head and gave her a tight smile, she would not cry in front of her. "Right, well I hope you two have fun." She made for the door only to realize Johnny was pulling her backpack keeping her in place._

"_Have I told you how hot you look when you steam like that." He pulled her to him concealing her face on his chest._

"_Thanks for the offer Candace but I rather spend my time with my girlfriend." He hung her backpack over his shoulder and wrapped an arm around her waist. _

_Pandora faced the ground as they left, she couldn't bring herself to face him. Had he really said what she thought she had heard? She waited until their audience was far out of hearing range._

_What was that?" she asked him pulling herself away from him._

"_I'm not sure but if I had to guess, I'd say a really pissed off witch."_

_She finally retrieve her backpack and narrowed her eyes at him. "I'm not talking about Candace. I mean what you just said. That you- that we… that was the first I heard of that. I don't remember you asking me out." _

"_Really? Because I was sure you said yes in my dreams." Normally that would be a cheesy line. That was if you didn't go to Magic School and you didn't know that John Marks could project himself into other's dreams. Something Pandora was aware of but she never thought he'd do it on her. It was an invasion of privacy and after all these years it was an unspoken rule not to use their powers against the others. Nonetheless the dream had happened and she remembered every spoken word. This time she knew with certainty and she was blushing._

"_Maybe you got the wrong twin and visited Polly instead? Ever think of that?" She asked trying to save face but she knew her face gave her away._

"_No," he said as if he was actually contiplating the thought. "Polly would have mentioned something when I saw her earlier today. I definitely got the right twin."_

"_Okay fine, but I thought it was just a dream. You had no right to do that"_

"_I would have done it to your face but you've been avoiding me for over a week." He was met with silence and decided to change tactics. With a soft voice that lacked his usual sarcasm he continued, "Pandora will you go out with me?"_

"_Wha—NO!"_

"_I'm confused, last night you said yes."_

_She tried to glare at him but a smile won over. "Last night was supposed to be a dream. A dream where my powers weren't out of control."_

"_So what? You won't hurt me." He answered. It would have been easier to argue with him if he weren't holding her gaze and she didn't feel like a trapped mouse. But she couldn't risk it._

"_You don't know that, I don't even know that."_

"_Except that I do know."_

"_Oh yeah, how?" she challenged taking a step closer to him._

"_Same reason I'm asking you out."_

"_And what is that?"_

_This time it was his turn to step closer to her. They were face to face and she had to lift her head slightly to meet his stare. "Go out with me and you'll found out." He challenged with a smile._

The memory vanished into fog.

"And you never did hurt me."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, I had a hard time coming up with Pandora's flashback, not sure how I feel about the end product. I'll try to get better with updates but no promises. Also this has nothing to do with the story but you can now search for stories about the 'Manticore Baby' so if you have any stories where he's a main character you can have have him as a character in the story...you know what I mean (character A).**

**As always your guys' ********thoughts and opinions are much valued. Any and all are welcomed. :-)**


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